Pet Wolf
by these-dreams-go-on
Summary: Everyone in Mystic Falls knows the bizarre tale of Caroline's white wolf, the creature she encountered in the woods who saved her from an abduction and stays by her side, as tame as any domesticated pet. What they don't know is that this wolf is a man cursed into animal form and falling for a woman he will never be able to have. AU Klaroline
1. Chapter 1

A/N- I own nothing associated with the Vampire Diaries.

* * *

Twelve was such an exciting number!

It was so much cooler than eleven because when you were eleven you were basically still a kid but twelve, twelve meant you were one year away from being a teenager and a teenager was practically an adult!

After all, an eleven year old girl would totally be afraid to walk home by herself this late in the evening even in a town like Mystic Falls, but Caroline was turning twelve tomorrow which meant she was totally twelve already so she wasn't afraid.

Not one bit.

No sir.

She shivered and gripped the handle of her basket tighter, wishing for the hundredth time that she'd had the brains to leave the Quarry earlier so that she didn't have to stumble through the forest which was pretty and adventurous during the day but dark and creepy the second the sun went down.

But it totally wasn't her fault.

She had been waiting for Elena and Bonnie to turn up.

After all it was tradition.

Well, not tradition yet, it had only been one year so far but last year she'd made a picnic and they'd gone to the Quarry for Elena and Bonnie's birthday's and they'd had such fun that Caroline had figured they'd do the same thing again for her.

So she'd made fairy bread sandwiches- her favourite, baked a red velvet cake- packet mix but still tasty and she'd even thrown in a fruit salad because Bonnie was on some vegetarian health kick but vegetables weren't picnic food so this was the best she could do.

She'd drawn up some pretty pink invitations for the three of them, not that she needed reminding of her own birthday but it looked really great on her calendar, and told them that she'd see them after school.

She had raced home and then headed to the Quarry with an old picnic blanket that she'd found in the hallway cupboard, along with some teen magazines that she'd bought with the twenty dollars her grandmother sent her early.

She'd got there just before four and set up, making sure everything looked absolutely perfect.

At four-thirty she'd started reading the magazines, wondering why Elena and Bonnie were walking so slowly. A part of her got excited thinking that maybe they'd bought her a really nice present and had to carry it there.

At five, she'd eaten a couple of the sandwiches because she was hungry.

At five-thirty she'd wiped at her eyes with the picnic blanket, even though she totally wasn't crying, she just had stuff in her eye.

At six, she'd begun packing up which had taken a while because even though everything had fit so neatly into the picnic basket, for some weird reason, with less food it totally didn't.

At six-fifteen she was lugging the heavy basket through the rapidly darkening woods, wishing she had something other than her Barbie digital watch for light, the pink glow did absolutely nothing and her tears were rolling down her face now and she couldn't remember which way she was meant to turn to get back to the road and she wanted more than anything to spin in a circle and try to get her bearings but she couldn't…

Because she could hear the footsteps behind her.

Her hands are sweaty and the wicker basket is slipping out of her fingers, or banging against the side of her leg which really hurts, her back is sore from being so tense and she's trembling with fear.

A twig snaps and she screams.

She drops the basket and sprints, running wildly through the woods, jumping over logs and ducking under low branches, she sees the familiar break in the trees and with a burst of energy makes it onto the asphalt of the road just as a large truck roars past and nearly hits her.

The brakes squeal and rubber burns on the road but the driver doesn't stop and Caroline barely manages to stagger backwards and fall onto the grass.

She skins her hands and sobs loudly because she's an eleven-year-old girl who is alone, frightened and just remembered that her purse and keys are in the basket and her mom is working late tonight, her dad is on a business trip and won't be back until tomorrow morning and she won't be able to get into the house.

She could walk to the police station but if she did then people might know that her friends didn't even turn up to her birthday party and then she'd be a loser and she might get kicked out of the cheer-squad and the dance club and people would make fun of her…

With a sob, she pulled herself up and squared her shoulders. Perhaps she had been imagining things, or maybe Tyler Lockwood had been playing a trick on her, or maybe a branch had just fallen out of a tree?

She takes a huge step back into the forest and determinedly takes large, loud steps back towards the place she thinks she dropped her basket. She even begins singing because if somebody hears her coming maybe they'll be frightened and run off?

She gets to the chorus when she sees her basket lying on its side, knocked open, she looks around but doesn't see anyone…

She is so stupid, she must have imagined the entire thing!

Totally not twelve year old behaviour!

Her face is burning with embarrassment when she bends over to pick it up and she's so busy scolding herself that she doesn't really see it the first time.

In fact, she has to check twice before she realises what is right in front of her.

A wolf.

A really big, really huge wolf.

And so close to her!

She can't breathe, she can't run, she can't move a muscle.

Maybe she's dreaming?

This wolf is the weirdest wolf she has ever seen and she's been to the Richmond Zoo once a year since she was five but she has never seen a wolf that is so big and so completely white.

And its eyes.

When it looks up at her she's stunned by how bright his blue eyes are. They seem to shine in the darkness and she finds herself exhaling as she wishes her eyes were that blue.

But the wolf is looking at her and she remembers all too late that wolves are dangerous predators…

Except this one isn't trying to eat her.

It's trying to eat her fruit salad.

Somehow it dragged the Tupperware bowl from her picnic basket and is trying to pull the lid off with its teeth, although it's definitely not succeeding and seems to be chewing the plastic more than anything.

And plastic is really bad for animals.

And Caroline was the leading Girl Scout in the troop for information on Animal Welfare…

Cautiously, she approaches the creature freezing when it lifts its head but otherwise takes no notice of her, it paws the bowl and her dad had just bought container and he'll be angry if it's ruined so she crouches down a few feet from him and reaches for the Tupperware.

The wolf growls a warning and she shakes, "It's okay" she tells the creature, "I'm…helping you"

It huffs and allows her to drag the bowl close enough so that she can pull off the lid.

She'd gone to a lot of effort to make that fruit salad, she'd even sliced some pineapple and mangoes and taken some peaches from the kitchen even though they were her mom's.

But the fruit had gone brown now and if Bonnie wasn't going to eat it…

"Here."

She pushes the bowl back towards the wolf and it sticks its nose in eagerly, snorting and snuffling as it gobbles the fruit down and licks the Tupperware clean.

It reminds her of a regular dog, not a scary wolf at all.

When the bowl has been licked of any fruit or juice the wolf raises its head and sniffs in the direction of the basket.

Well…she can't take the food home, not unless she wants her parents asking questions and she can't eat it all herself because then she'll feel sick and gain weight and Aimee Bradley had already told her that if she got fat she'd have her thrown out of the dance club because she didn't want a club of fatties.

So she opens the basket and pulls out the sandwiches and unwraps them, sticking the plastic in the back pocket of her shorts, and the cake which got squashed when she dropped the picnic basket.

She holds out the sandwiches and the wolf sniffs them curiously, licking the bread and pulling back as if it had poisoned it with a confused yelp, she chuckles at its reaction,

"It's okay," she told it, "It's fairy bread, hundreds and thousands on white, crust less, no grain."

It looks across into her eyes, at this level it's taller than her, it stares at her as if it can understand her and then bends its head and trying to eat the bread out of her hand.

She hisses as its teeth scrape her hand and pulls it back, staring at the red mark across her palm.

What if the wolf gets a taste for her blood?

The wolf whimpers and swallows the bread with a big gulp before nuzzling its nose on the fading mark.

"It's okay." she repeats, feeling the strangest urge to comfort the creature even though she is the one who is totally in pain, well not in pain because the mark is already fading, she just got a shock is all.

The wolf huffs and sits back, this time it opens its mouth and shows her really white teeth, waiting patiently with an open jaw as she carefully places a sandwich inside. It munches happily and Caroline feels bolder, reaching over slowly and patting its shoulder once before snapping her hand back just in case.

The cake is difficult for both of them.

Caroline cuts herself a weird shaped portion with one of the plastic knives but the icing has squished into the cake and gone everywhere, so she eats with her hands and leaves the rest on the paper plate for the wolf to gobble up.

She laughs when the wolf licks the plate so enthusiastically that the paper gets stuck to its tongue and it lifts its head to find the plate covering its face.

"I hope I haven't given you a sugar rush." she jokes as she eases the plate away and tosses it back into the basket before catching a glimpse of her watch.

Seven-thirty.

Crap!

Her mom was supposed to be home at eight and if Caroline wasn't home she would freak out and have half the squad looking for her and then everyone would know.

"I have to go," she tells the wolf, grabbing the now-totally lighter basket, "I have to get home."

The wolf whined at the word and she wondered if wolves had homes, or favourite caves or something, clearly they were smart animals because this one seemed to understand what she was saying.

She hopped from one foot to the other and gave it an awkward wave,

"Okay, so bye wolf…thanks for coming to my birthday party."

Caroline rolled her eyes at her own stupidity a moment later.

"God I am such an idiot." she muttered out load before treading up back up to the road to head home.

At seven-fifty five she made it through her front door and raced to her room, slipping on the runner in the hallway and smacking her not-really-injured but still sore hand on the wall, she hissed but threw herself onto her bed and grabbed the first book on her nightstand, opening it to a random page and pretending to be reading when five minutes later her mom strode through the door with case files in one hand and take-out in the other.

"Hey baby." she called and Caroline did her best to sound casual when she responded,

"Hey mom."

"How was the eve of your special day?" Elizabeth asked absently as she hung up her weapon, belt and badge, not noticing the faraway look on Caroline's face,

"It was good," she said, shrugging casually, "I think I made a new friend."

A few hours later when Caroline was getting ready for bed, something outside the window caught her attention. Switching off the bedroom light she climbed onto her window seat and saw the shining white wolf standing in the middle of the road.

She gasped and freaked out, hoping like hell nobody would notice and call the police or animal control to have it put down, also how the hell did it follow her here?

The wolf didn't seem too worried, it lifted its head and sniffed the air before padding over to her house, she saw it circle her mom's patrol car and the mail box, sitting back and staring at the gold cursive letters she'd painted on last month before nodding to itself and disappearing into the night.

She shook her head.

She really needed to read up on wolves.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Here we go. Thank-you so much everyone for all the support and encouragement.

* * *

Sunday was Caroline's least favourite day of the week.

Nothing _ever_ happened on Sunday.

She didn't have dance, Girl Scout meetings, cheer practise or even any volunteer duties!

Sunday was the most _boring_ day in Mystic Falls.

Even Church was boring.

Caroline sighed as she sat in one of the pews closest to the door, she and her mom had been running late as they did every Sunday so they'd been lucky to grab a seat at all. Up the front of the church, in the second pew Caroline could see Elena's hair tied back in a ponytail with a ribbon that clashed horribly with her dress.

She could also see that her little brother Jeremy was pinching her because she kept squirming and hissing at him to stop.

Caroline felt a surge of satisfaction before quashing it and bringing her hands together in prayer, church was totally not the place to take pleasure in other people's pain.

Even if the person in question had totally forgot her birthday party and then hadn't even apologised to her face but just stuck a birthday card to her locker with a reused gift bag with a friendship bracelet making kit inside.

Caroline might even have appreciated the little effort Elena had gone to if she hadn't known for a _fact_ that the kit was the expensive one her Uncle John had got her for Christmas and she was giving it away because she hated her Uncle John.

At least Bonnie had given her something new. Yeah it was an ugly tie-dye quilt that her grandmother had bought to support some peace effort somewhere in the Middle East but Caroline supposed it was a step-up from a re-gift.

Pastor Young finished his sermon and began listing the news in the Community postings and reminded everyone that the town cleanup was next Wednesday.

Caroline had already volunteered for park clean-up.

The adults were shifting in their seats now, gathering their bags, telling their children to stand and head to the exit, Caroline grabbed her new handbag and turned to her mother but she was caught up in conversation with Mr Green about college kids or something equally boring.

So she excused herself and skipped out the front door, hurrying into the sunshine and smiling as Matt made his way over,

"Hey Care!" he grinned, bumping her shoulder, she giggled and rolled her eyes at his nickname, even though she secretly loved having a nickname.

Especially when _Matt_ had given it to her.

"Enjoy church?" she teased and he laughed,

"I don't know why mom makes us go every week! Lucky Bonnie, _she_ gets to sleep in."

Caroline opened her mouth to make a joke or say something smart when Matt's elder sister Vicky shouted at him to come get in the car, he said a quick goodbye and hurried off, leaving her standing there with a sigh.

* * *

Sunday was family day for the small town, except that her mom always worked over the weekend and her dad was usually on a business trip. So while all her friends were having big roast lunches with their parents and uncles or cousins or whatever, she went home alone and made herself a sandwich with cold cuts and read a magazine or watched a movie.

Sometimes she'd get invited to Sunday lunches. Dr Gilbert had used to invite her around lots and Mrs Gilbert would let her manicure her nails or Pastor and Mrs Young would have her around for lunch and then she'd take April to the playground while they took a long afternoon nap.

But Dr Gilbert hadn't invited her around in a while and Mrs Young was sick now so April couldn't go to the playground on Sundays, she had to go to the hospital to visit her mom instead.

Caroline watched as everyone around her split up into groups and drove off to their lunches, she clutched her bag to her chest and made sure to look both ways before crossing the road. She only lived about fifteen minutes from the town center, she was home in no time and busy making herself a sandwich when she heard the sound.

A sharp bark.

She frowned, there weren't any dogs in her street- well there was Sunny the Maltese Shih Tzu but he was on the corner and he lived inside so there was no way his little puppy barks could be so loud or so deep.

Another bark, closer this time followed by what sounded like a something scratching wood.

Curious now, she walked to the front door and unlocked it, pulling it open and shrieking when she saw the white wolf.

It was sitting on her front porch, looking up at her with its bright blue eyes.

She stared at it, wondering if she was dreaming. It had been a week since her birthday and she hadn't told anyone about the wolf, worried if she did that the poor thing would be hunted.

She hated hunters, it was _so_ cruel to shoot animals when they weren't doing anything wrong.

But now it was sitting on her doormat and she wondered if maybe it wasn't dangerous after all?

When she didn't move it tilted its head and whined softly and it sounded so lonely that she held out her hand and giggled when it butted it with its head.

"Okay…" she relented, "You can come in but you _cannot_ pee or poo anywhere."

The wolf snorted and somehow managed to look offended as it pushed past her and strode into the hallway. It lifted its head and sniffed, turning to her with a pointed look.

"I'm having lunch," she told it, "Would you like some cold cuts?"

It woofed happily and followed her to the kitchen. She finished cutting up her sandwich and tossed some turkey onto the floor as she went to the fridge and grabbed herself a soda. But when she turned around the wolf was staring at the floor with distaste and then at her,

"What?" she asked and it turned its back on the meat, "You don't like turkey?"

She watched as it reached up, it's long white back stretching as it put its two front paws on the counter and moved its nose to her lunch.

" _Hey!_ " she smacked it on the head as it grabbed half her sandwich off her plate,

"That was mine, you greedy wolf."

It huffed around the bread as it chewed and swallowed with a satisfied sigh, she answered with a sigh of her own and rubbed its ears,

"You're a weird wolf, you know that right?"

It nodded and sat patiently while she threw out the turkey on the floor and made another sandwich.

She led it to the living room and switched on the television, placing her plate on the coffee table she squealed when the wolf bumped her out of the way and climbed onto the couch, it look up the small space easily and she stamped her foot,

"And where am I supposed to sit?"

It looked around the room and shifted, curling up so that there was enough space for her, she sat down and crossed her legs, picking up the remote and flicking through the channels until she found a Disney movie playing.

She giggled when she recognised it,

"This is Balto," she told the wolf as she lay a hand on its neck, ruffling the fur gently, "It's a film about a wolf, funny huh?"

The wolf was staring at the television intently and she settled in to watch as well.

By the time the movie was over Caroline was lying across the couch with her head resting on the wolf's back, it twisted it's head to look at her a few times but otherwise focused on the television.

"Did you enjoy the movie?" she asked it lazily and smirked when it nodded, she switched off the television and sat up,

"Hey are you are male or female?"

The wolf gave her a surprised look but climbed down off the couch and moved away from the coffee table before it rolled onto its back and she saw its underside,

"Oh you're a boy wolf."

He nodded and rolled back to his feet, "Do you have a name?"

He tilted his head and whined, "I suppose you don't," Caroline guessed,

"Being wild and all."

She thought for a moment, "How about I call you, Balto?"

He huffed and lowered his head to the ground, sniffing and padding away,

"Hey!" she followed him as he pushed open her bedroom door and slid inside, he stood beside her bed and sneezed, once, twice, repeatedly, his head shaking violently as he backed out of the room. She giggled,

"Is my body spray too strong for you?"

He sat down on his haunches, watching as she stepped around him, crossed her room and opened a window, "There that should be better."

She sat on her bed and waited until he eventually slinked back in, he turned in a circle, observing her room which she redesigned every season. His eyes met hers and he tilted her head, shuffling forward and resting a paw on her bedspread, she reached down to ruffle his ears but pushed him away when he tried to climb up beside her.

"No way!"

Having an idea she climbed over him to her closet where she'd stashed the bad birthday presents Bonnie and Elena had given her.

She threw the quilt on the floor between the window and her bed so that he would be hidden if her mom came home, "Here."

He lay down on the blanket with his head on his paws and watched as she got out the kit Elena had re-gifted to her. "How about I make you a collar?"

He snorted but settled down, keeping one eye on her as she wove the bright threads together, it took a whole hour but she eventually had a rainbow weave large enough, she connected it with the two metal clasps and crouched down before Balto.

"Here you go boy,"

He whined but allowed her to slip it over his head, she settled it around his neck and laughed when she realised that she could barely see it with all his fur,

"Well, it's the thought that counts."

He nods and presses his wet nose to her cheek, holding it there while she rubs his ear. She leans back and gazes into his bright blue eyes,

"You don't have a pack do you?"

He shakes his head, lying back down with his head on his paws and whining, she gets to her feet and climbs back onto her bed,

"Well…I guess you can come visit me whenever my parents aren't home."

He woofs and she could swear that he's grinning.

And by the time the sun begins to set, even though Caroline hasn't spoken to another person all afternoon, she doesn't feel lonely like she usually does.

Balto is dozing on the floor when they both hear the sound of her mom's patrol car turning into the street. Caroline can recognise the car from a distance because she's heard the engine every day for years but just as she reaches down for Balto, he lazily climbs to his feet and scrabbles out the window.

And she's totally worried he'll be seen but she can't resist laughing when the wolf gets stuck and she has to push his rump to help him get all the way through.

He quickly disappears up the street and Caroline waves before closing her window before heading into the hallway to greet her mom.

* * *

 _Three days later._

Caroline was seriously annoyed with her parents.

It was six-thirty and her dad was supposed to have picked her up from Girl Scout's fifteen minutes ago!

Even Bonnie's Grams had managed to get there on time, Mrs Gilbert had offered her a lift home but Caroline hadn't wanted to worry her daddy if she wasn't there waiting for him.

She shivered in the night and kicked around the gravel parking lot of the community center, an old building set at the edge of the forest, wrapping her arms around herself and wondering if she should try and call his cell again, even though she was nearly out of credit.

This seemed to be happening a lot more frequently. She didn't know why she couldn't just walk home, she was twelve years old after all!

"Screw it," she decided, picking up her backpack and stomping away from the center.

"I'm walking home."

Walking home wasn't _that_ bad really.

Sure the night was dark but there were plenty of streetlamps and stuff.

She was cutting through the high school parking lot when a couple of jocks waved to her as they piled into their car and offered her a lift.

She blushed but shook her head, they might be jocks but she was definitely not getting into a car with strangers.

Still, Caroline had decided that she could handle walking home and was even feeling confident about her decision before she heard the car behind her, its bright lights cast her shadow in front of her and when she turned around they momentarily blinded her.

She shielded her eyes and squinted as the car idled beside her, she started to sweat when she didn't recognise the car and she had no idea who the man rolling down the window was,

"Hey _you!_ "

This man was about her daddy's age but with dark black hair, hazel eyes and pale skin, she shifted on her feet and glanced about the parking lot- it was completely deserted.

"Your mom arrested my boy! The damn _bitch._ "

He revs his car engine and she stumbles backwards instinctively,

"Said he was dealing drugs, but what does she know?"

He takes his foot off the break and the car jumps forward, and Caroline is trembling now,

"Crazy bitch needs to be taught a god damn lesson!"

He climbed out of the car, leaving the engine running and Caroline saw that he was absolutely huge and muscled, her legs felt like jelly she was so scared,

"Please leave me alone" she begged as he reached out to grab her,

"Get in the car" he ordered but she ducked away from him and dropping her backpack she bolted, running across the asphalt, praying that she could run all the way home. She heard his footsteps behind her, his longer strides catching up easily in her terrified state and one thick hand wrapping around her arm.

She screamed in terror and then in pain as she tried to fight him off and heard something snap. She fell to the ground and inhaled deeply to scream again but he whacked her over the head and the world spun. He loomed over her and she was so scared.

There was a flash of white against the dark night and suddenly the bad man wasn't there anymore.

There was growling and yelps of pain, snarls and fabric tearing. She struggled to stay conscious and felt the bad man's car as it sped past. He was gone.

A familiar face hovered above her, whimpering as he pressed his nose to hers and licked her face,

" _Balto_?" she murmured as the wolf nodded and continued frantically licking her face and neck.

"Help…boy?"

* * *

When Caroline opened her eyes she was lying in a hospital bed.

She looked down and saw her body covered with a thin blanket but her left arm was wrapped in plaster, she ached all over and winced as she tried to sit up.

"Baby?"

She turned her face and saw her mom sitting beside the bed, looking totally relieved. Seeing her brought back everything that had happened last night and tears welled in her eyes.

"I was so scared" she whimpered and Elizabeth Forbes reached over around the tubes and wrapped her arms around her daughter, hugging her tightly,

"It's okay baby girl, you're safe now, nobody's going to hurt you ever again"

When the tears subsided, Caroline sniffed and settled back against the pillows,

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember is the parking lot"

Her mom shuddered and ran a hand through her hair, "It's the weirdest thing Care, a wolf brought you home, Mrs Dawson saw him carrying you on his back, he was moving slowly but walking right on the footpath with no concern for humans and he went right up to our porch and started howling up a storm"

"His name's Balto, mom" Caroline yawned sleepily, "And he's my pet wolf"

* * *

A/N- Slow moving story, and I know it isn't written in the same manner as my other stories but as Caroline is young at the moment I'm trying to write in young girl's perspective.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- Okay, here we go.

* * *

Caroline had a minor concussion and a broken arm.

She was released in the morning and told to take it easy over the weekend.

Liz had called in and let her deputies know what was happening, telling them that she was on leave the next three days and not to call her unless it was an emergency.

She was going to keep her eyes on her baby girl and let her know she was safe.

Still, she feels so helpless and useless as the nurse helps her daughter off the bed and into the wheelchair, walking her through the hospital with a quick, no nonsense pace while carrying on a happy conversation with Caroline.

The nurse even has her daughter smiling and giggling as she places her into the front of the squad car, brushing aside the paperwork and picking up three empty coffee cups so Caroline can put her feet on the floor.

Liz hadn't thought to clear out her car to make room for her daughter.

She was always so busy that she left the cleaning of the vehicle to the grunts.

But Caroline doesn't seem overly concerned, she's still chatting away to the nurse with a bubbly charm that she definitely didn't get from her mother.

It isn't until Liz has climbed into the car and sits beside her daughter that she sees her trembling, the way she's rubbing her hands together constantly and her eyes are darting around, out the passenger window, out the front windshield and into the back of the car.

She's _terrified_.

Liz wants to lean across and grip her shoulder, tell her that it's okay, that they caught the bad man and he won't hurt her ever again.

But that's a lie.

They'd identified him of course, after all, Liz hadn't arrested too many drug dealing young men with volatile fathers recently, but when they'd gone to the house with a warrant, his wife had told them proudly that he 'cleared off'. She'd bragged about how they'd never catch him and it served them right.

When she'd suggested that Mick should have killed Caroline, Liz's deputies had arrested her and were holding her for the day.

Not officially, because that would have meant paperwork, but just until she'd learnt her lesson.

The deputies hadn't taken the attack on Caroline well.

She had practically grown up in the police station and baked them cookies and remembered all their birthdays and asked after their family.

She was their little girl and when they'd heard what happened they'd dropped everything else and set to work hunting this bastard down.

But they hadn't found him yet.

So instead, Liz could only tell Caroline that Bill had bought her a tub of her favourite ice-cream and it was waiting for her at home.

It was enough to keep the smile on her daughter's face until the car pulled into the driveway and Bill was waiting there to scoop their baby girl into his arms and tickle her as she squealed with delight.

For all his faults he did love his daughter.

Liz helped him get their girl settled on the couch with her favourite movies and foods before leading him into the kitchen.

"Did you take care of the wolf?" she asked quietly, making them coffee, Bill nodded,

"Wasn't easy, I had to call animal control and it took them a while to get out here, they thought I was playing a prank, said two-hundred-pound snow white wolves didn't exist in Virginia. I had to fax them a photo before they'd come out and they had a real time tranquilizing him," he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Beautiful creature but wicked smart, recognised the guns and bolted pretty quick, but he wouldn't leave the property, kept returning and trying to get into the house, eventually we caught him climbing in Care's window. I think she's been domesticating him Lizzie, he had a damn homemade collar on his neck and I'm pretty sure she even made him a bed."

"But he's gone now?" she checked and he nodded,

"They told me they're taking him to a sanctuary up north, so we won't be seeing him again."

Elizabeth sighed in relief, the wolf would haunt her nightmares for weeks to come, she had known that ever since she'd laid eyes on the creature.

She'd been Mrs Dawson's second call, after the elderly neighbour had seen the wolf carrying her unconscious daughter home she'd called the ambulance, and then the police.

She'd later recounted that once the wolf had got Caroline to the porch he'd howled up an earth-shattering frenzy and hadn't stopped until the paramedics had arrived, he'd backed away as they'd carefully approached, fearing that he'd attack but he'd silently sat and watched them lift Caroline onto the gurney.

The only trouble had come when he'd tried to climb into the back of the ambulance with her, they'd knocked him out with a flat board and driven off. Apparently the wolf had sat in the driveway and stared after the vehicle until it turned out of the street before padding off into the night.

People had thought the entire event bizarre and the word had quickly spread about the wild wolf but he hadn't been seen again.

Until this morning when Liz had come home to change and found it sitting outside her bedroom window, the entire front of his body soaked in blood.

And her daughter thought the monster was her _pet_?!

Thankfully, he was gone now.

Caroline was still groggy from the pain medication and went to bed early afternoon, Liz had got the call not long after.

"I'm off duty!" she reminded Officer Poole but he wouldn't take no for an answer,

"You need to see this."

So she took down the address, told Bill to keep watch over their daughter and to make sure the bullets in the gun weren't wooden.

When she reaches the street she knows immediately which house she's after.

There was an ambulance and three police cars already on the front lawn and several neighbours milling around outside.

So she climbed up the driveway and waved to Poole, "What's going on?"

At once she can see it's bad. Poole smells like vomit and is pale as he can get, shaking violently.

"You need to see this," he mumbles, "It's pretty bad but uh…we think we found him."

"Him, who…?" she trails off as she realises who he's talking about.

" _Where is he?_ " she demands, storming into the house and suddenly her feet give way under her and she's forced to grab a side table to keep from falling.

Looking down, she sees that she slipped in a pool of blood.

"Where is he?" she asks again as Poole helps her up.

"Uh…" he stuttered, "That's part of the problem."

He leads her around the side of the house, to the backyard and before she even lays eyes on the scene she can smell the blood and the death.

The yard was a complete travesty. Blood splattered across the ground and earth torn up, fingernails on the concrete path and strips of flesh leading to the back patio.

Where was what left of the body was lying there in a pool of its own fluids.

"This house is a foreclosure and the neighbours were out last night, a couple of kids heard the screaming but thought it was a movie…especially when…they could have sworn that they heard an animal growling."

Liz barely heard him, she was staring at the corpse in front of her and putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

The wolf had been soaked in blood.

"This was definitely done by an animal wasn't it," she concludes, before straightening up and storming from the yard, Poole hot on her tracks,

"Where are you going?!"

"Home," she tells him curtly, "To see my daughter."

* * *

When she gets there, the front door is open and she has her gun out as she moves inside, her training warring against the fear pounding in her heart.

"Bill?"

"In here." He shouts back and she follows the sound of his voice to the bedroom where Caroline is curled up under the blankets, fast asleep.

And the wolf is sitting on the floor, Caroline's hand stretched out, entangled in his fur. There's something beside him and she approaches carefully to pick it up.

A wallet. She opens it up and sees Mick's face.

"What should we do?" Bill asks, "I called the animal sanctuary and it turns out they weren't even out of town before he broke out of the truck"

Liz sighs.

This wolf had saved her daughter, had carried her home and hunted down her attacker.

"For the moment," she whispers, "Let him stay."

* * *

Monday morning came around all too quickly and despite both Bill and Liz assuring their daughter that she could have the day off if she wanted, Caroline was clearly determined not to miss any more school.

She was even excited to have her cast decorated and signed by her friends.

She was bouncing around right up until the moment when she reached the front door and Liz's heart broke as her baby girl froze.

She was terrified.

The wolf had been sitting in the living room, staring at the television that Caroline insisted he could watch, but his head turned and tilted as he studied her.

Liz watched as he stood and padded over to Caroline, walking past her to where her school bag was propped against the wall. He picked it up by the handle and turned back to her daughter expectantly.

Caroline was broken out of her trance and giggled, "I think Balto wants to walk me to school, mom."

The wolf wanted to protect her daughter.

Liz ran a hand through her short hair, imagining the panic it would cause if a wolf was seen wandering down the street, "Why don't we all go?" she suggested.

But by the end of the week, Liz was busy again so Caroline walked to school with Balto, who would then disappear for a few hours and be back when the bell rang to walk her home.

* * *

A/N- So as I'm sure you've noticed this story is nowhere near as well written or detail oriented as some of my other stories, this was because I was going for simplistic writing but this should be the last chapter written in this fashion.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- So for those of you who are concerned, I never discontinue fics. I don't update regularly because I work and study, but I wouldn't just stop a fic.

* * *

The last bell of the day.

Freedom.

Caroline smiled as her classmates all jumped up, grabbing their books and bags and rushing to their lockers. She moved a little slower, struggling with her cast but Matt met her at the door and grabbed her books, piling them on top of his easily.

"You good?" he asks and she giggles, "Yep, Mr Jones totally gave me an extra week on my history project because of my injury."

He snorts, "You're still gonna hand it in early, aren't you?"

She grins with pride, "Yep."

He matches her grin and walks her to her locker, making sure nobody bumped her accidentally.

When he'd heard what had happened, he'd been the first one to call her and make sure she was okay and when she'd got to school that morning, he'd been waiting for her on the sidewalk, pen in hand, ready to sign her cast.

By lunchtime, it had been signed by most of her classmates, and Jeremy Gilbert had drawn a picture of her on it- he'd made her look terrible but it was still sweet.

Her teachers had all asked her if she was okay, how she was getting home, did she want a lift, and told her to come talk to them anytime. She'd loved the attention but told them all that she was fine to walk home.

She was even looking forward to it.

That morning, when Balto and her mom had walked to school with her, he'd stopped a block away and set her bag down on the ground and loped off, leaving her confused until her mom suggested that he had probably gone to the forest- which was a good thing because he might not like being around so many people, and the people might panic at seeing the giant wolf wandering around.

But still, even though she hadn't seen him all day, she'd still felt totally safe because she'd figured that he was near enough so that if the bad man had angry friends he could come make sure she was okay.

When she heads outside, she finds Bonnie and Elena leaning against one of the trees, waiting to walk her home with Matt and they're halfway down the street, complaining about the old Ms. Freemont who was totally bitter because no-one liked her when she heard a familiar bark and her head shoots up.

Balto emerged from the tree line and padded towards her, giving a low whuff when he was a foot from her.

Elena's shriek was so shrill that Caroline's ears rang and she jumped behind Matt who was staring at the wolf with disbelieving eyes and Caroline tries not to show off.

"Hey Balto," she says, reaching over to scratch his ear and he tilts his head, "How was your day?"

"Guys," she turns to face them, "This is Balto- he saved my life and he's a real wolf!"

Matt's eyes are bugging out of his head, "Um…is he trained or…I don't know, vegetarian?"

Caroline shrugs, "I don't think so, but he does like fruit, he eats lots of it but you have to give him a plate because he refuses to eat off the floor and when daddy gave him a dog bowl he chewed it up."

Matt inches forward and sticks his hand out, Balto sniffs in his direction but otherwise doesn't pay him any attention,

"Can I pat him?" he asks and Caroline's about to say yes when he growls and shakes his head in a firm no, making her giggle, "Guess not."

She realizes Bonnie hasn't said anything and looks around, seeing that her friend had taken three large steps back,

"There's something wrong with him," she declares loudly, "Something _weird_."

Balto's eyes narrow as he looks at her friend and he snarls, and Caroline knows what that means in dogs so she raps him on the nose,

"Balto," she snaps, "Bonnie is my friend, you be nice!"

He huffs and bumps her with his head, making her rock back on her heels before coming around to stand beside her,

"Is he going to walk home with us?" Elena manages to ask from behind Matt's back and she's such a scaredy cat that Caroline wants to roll her eyes,

"He walked me to school this morning, I think he's my guard dog."

Balto whines and rolls his eyes at that title but Caroline notices that he stays right beside her the entire walk home, right up until she walks into her house at which point he leaves her to go sit on the couch and smack his paw against the remote until the television turned on.

* * *

"Balto should come too, Daddy!"

Bill sighed and made sure not to look into Caroline's imploring eyes as she stood at the foot of the steps.

He looked into the living room where the damn wolf was sitting on the couch- which was slowly turning white from all the fur he shed- and watching the television- as always.

Bill had wanted to watch the game last night but when he'd sat down on the couch, the wolf had pushed him off with his paw and stretched across the seats so there was no room for him to sit down. He'd taken the armchair and tried to grab the remote but the wolf had growled when he'd come near and when he'd changed the channel on the actual tv, Balto had used his claw to press the remote button to change it back.

He knows that there is something weird with that wolf, but Caroline adored him and thought he was cute and Liz was busy working and the Council had just suggested he put vervein in the water bowl to ensure that the wolf was one hundred percent normal.

He'd tried but Balto had torn up the food and water bowls and left the pieces beside the bed, where Bill had stepped on them with bare feet the next morning.

Richard Lockwood had smugly pointed out that the wolf wasn't supernatural, he just clearly hated Bill.

Bill had been forced to agree with this statement.

The wolf apparently blamed him entirely for trying to send him away and had already torn up three pairs of leather shoes and dragged Bill's favorite briefcase out into the backyard when it had been raining. Also, when Liz worked nights, he liked to sneak into the bedroom and bark right beside Bill's ear, scaring him awake. Bill had locked the bedroom door to keep him out but then he just gave an ear-drum shattering howl that woke up Caroline and had half the street ringing to complain or ask what was wrong.

"Sweetie," Bill tries, "I think he's busy watching his shows."

The damn wolf watched the news cycle, staring at it even though dogs couldn't see the screen and half the time the programmes were in foreign languages, he also liked movies, particularly horror movies and Bill swore that the wolf's eyes shone during the bloody, gruesome scenes.

As if sensing Bill's reluctance, Balto switches the tv off and pads over to Caroline's left side, where she tangles her fingers into his rainbow collar.

Liz had suggested getting him a proper tag with identification but Bill had pointed out that everyone in town now knew about Caroline's wolf and they weren't about to lose the damn thing anytime soon.

Unfortunately, Caroline had written a nice letter to all the local hunting societies with a picture of Balto, letting them know that he was a tame wolf and to please not hunt him.

Worse, they'd all replied and let her know that if they saw him that they wouldn't shoot.

Even if they did kill the only pure white wolf in Virginia, it wasn't like they could take him anywhere to be skinned for his fur without Liz finding out and nobody wanted to piss off the Sheriff by killing the creature that had saved her baby girl.

Besides, that creature was too damn smart for its own good.

But it was not going to intrude on father-daughter bonding time at the Grill.

"See daddy," Caroline pointed out when they arrived at the Grill fifteen minutes later,

"There's lots of outside tables free."

Brill barely responds but Caroline sits at one of the wrought iron tables and Balto pads over next to her, pushing past Bill with enough force that he loses his footing.

The lunch menu had been the same since before Caroline was born but her order has changed, when Bill goes in to the bar, she's roped him into getting a burger for Balto as well. To be delivered on a plate because that damn wolf doesn't eat off the ground or plastic bowls.

He runs into Sheila Bennett as he's making his way back out with as much dignity as possible and takes a moment to speak with her. He likes Sheila and admires her for raising her granddaughter after Abigail and Rudy had both abandoned Bonnie to go live their lives elsewhere.

He can't even remember the last time he saw Rudy Hopkins around town, he or Grayson would probably have to step in and be the ones the boys feared when Bonnie started going on dates.

"What's this I hear about a white wolf?" Sheila demands, pulling him aside and looking out the window to where Caroline was chatting sweetly with one of the old church biddies, her hand resting on Balto's back.

"There he is," Bill jerks his head, "In all his shedding, snapping, barking, garden ruining, polished floorboard scratching glory."

Sheila hums, pursing her lips as she watches him, "There's something weird about that wolf," she murmurs, "Something off."

Bill snorts, "Trust me I know but…"

He's about to add that he'd tried the vervein on the creature before remembering that Sheila isn't part of the Council, even though he's pretty sure that she's aware of vampires, he doesn't want to take that risk. "Caroline adores him," He substitutes, "And he saved her life and clearly adores her."

Sheila is still glaring at the wolf, "I suppose I can't convince you to send him away?"

He shakes his head, "Already tried, which is why the creature is tearing through my wardrobe and ruining my life."

She sighed and shook her head, "Be careful William, very careful."

* * *

 _Two months later_.

It was after ten pm on a Thursday night and Caroline had cheer leading practice early the next morning and she'd get in trouble if she made any mistakes or had any bags under her eyes but she couldn't stop crying.

Her daddy had left.

Gone.

Walked out.

He had explained to her that he and mommy couldn't be married anymore, that he didn't like women but men and had been seeing a man named Steven and they were going to live together away from Mystic Falls and her.

Just like that.

He told her that he had planned on leaving tomorrow afternoon, her mommy had planned to take the shift off so they could both sit down and tell her but…he couldn't wait.

He couldn't wait to leave her.

A fresh wave of sobs wracked her body and she buried her face into the pillow, curling up into a ball.

She's sobbing so loud that she doesn't hear the creak of the doggy door her mom had had installed in the kitchen so Balto could come and go without needing someone to let him in and out. She hears his nails clicking on the tile and then the wood, but when he reaches her door he stops and huffs in confusion.

She'd slammed it to get away from her daddy, so he could leave to be with the boy he loved more than her and Balto couldn't get in. She doesn't get up but only chokes on her tears and when she hears him next, he's outside her window, his head tilted as he watches her.

"Go away!" she snaps, "I don't want to talk to you."

Suddenly she hates him, Balto had always been so mean to her daddy and maybe this was why he had left a day early?

Maybe he'd made him feel unhappy in his own house?

She turns her back to the wolf and closes her eyes, ignoring him when he scratches his claws down her window.

But thunder rolls overhead and she tenses, hating storms so she wearily climbs off the bed and moves over to the window, pushing it open as the first few drops begin to fall,

"Come on," she whispers in a raspy voice, "Inside."

He clambers in and lies down on his blanket, putting his paws in front of him and she sits down on the ground, "Daddy's gone," she explains, "He's going to go live with his boyfriend and everyone will know and I'll be so embarrassed and he doesn't love me enough to stay!"

She bursts into fresh tears and Balto whines, pressing his nose to her cheek and licking the tears as they run down her face. She throws her arms around him and buries her face in his fur, sobbing heartbrokenly but not feeling alone anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- Thanks for the love everyone!

* * *

 _Three years later_

"Sheriff!"

Liz's head shot up at the shout of fear coming from one of her deputies, but a moment later she hears the sharp bark and relaxes.

Caroline's damn wolf was scaring the newbies again.

"Balto," she calls, not even looking up from her desk, "Leave him alone."

Another bark and the sound of shoes skidding back against the floor before Balto lopes around the desks and appears in the doorway of her office.

Liz checks her watch and sees that it's after nine pm, "What're you even doing here?"

She immediately looks around for Caroline, whenever she wasn't in school or at home, Balto was by her side, the only time he wasn't with her was when she went to dinner with Bill and Steven and that was only because Bill deliberately chose indoor restaurants and requested that the wolf stay at home. When Bill had first returned to town after their separation, Balto had introduced himself to Steven by jumping onto the hood of their car and clawing his way from windshield to bumper.

Poor Steven had been terrified of him until Caroline had told him to be nice.

Which he was…to _Steven_.

Bill, he never seemed to have forgiven for leaving Caroline and made a point to make his life miserable whenever he visited Mystic Falls.

Even Caroline couldn't get Balto to behave when it came to her ex-husband and for her, Balto had willingly sat through being dyed, beribboned and dressed up for three consecutive Halloweens now.

He pushes his way into her office now and sits down in front of her desk, huffing in irritation.

He doesn't seem the least bit concerned and Liz finally remembers that her daughter was on a date.

Boys had discovered Caroline pretty quickly when she'd entered middle school and in spite of Balto, they'd come knocking on the door. In lieu of Bill, however, Balto was pretty good at instilling the fear of God into them and he seemed to know Caroline's curfew and if she wasn't back by a certain time, he went looking for her.

And he had no qualm about chasing any inappropriate boys away.

"She still has another half-hour before she has to be home," Liz reminds the wolf but he only slumps to the floor and glares up at the clock, she figures that he's sulking and wonders if there had been a power shortage at home. He hated being without his television, especially since Bill had tried to buy his affection by purchasing cable for him- not that it had worked but the subscription was kept up.

He ignores her and she goes back to her paperwork until one of her deputies comes in with a take away box from the Grill.

Bobby- the owner of the Grill- was a longtime friend of the family and when he'd first met Balto, he'd given him a steak as reward for saving Caroline's life. Now, a couple of times a week he sent over steaks near the expiry date cooked and garnished for the wolf.

He'd also offered to send Liz dinner so she wouldn't be hungry when she was working the night shift but she'd seen the intent in his eyes and was perfectly happy being alone thank-you very much.

Although it was nice to have men interested in her.

She wondered how Balto would cope with Caroline having a step-father, she smirks as she imagines him being the friendliest wolf in the world just to rub it in Bill's face.

Her ex was right, she admits, there _was_ something weird about the wolf.

Despite not having eaten anyone- to their knowledge anyway- in years and that had been covered up by the Sheriff's department as a 'wild animal attack', the deputies kept a healthy distance from the wolf, so this one puts the box down on the ground and uses a broom handle to push it over towards him. Liz watches with amusement, but when Balto whacks the box away she stands up,

"What is wrong with you, tonight?" she demands as she picks the box up off the floor, he only huffs and turns his head away from her and she rolls her eyes, sitting back down and putting the box on her desk.

"Fine, go hungry."

They stayed like that for another ten minutes before Balto starts glancing at the box, his eyes darting away when she looks at him, and when she leaves the room to grab another cup of coffee, she sees him picking the box off the desk with his teeth and helping himself to the now cold steak.

Just before nine-thirty rolls around, the phone at her desk starts ringing,

"Sheriff Forbes here." She answers, keeping her eye on the computer screen, until the caller begins speaking and she immediately knows that something is wrong.

"Sheriff, it's Deputy Wade," the man gasps, "There's been…there was an accident, a car went over Wickery Bridge…"

Oh God.

Her first thought is her daughter,

"What car?" she demands as she jumps to her feet, " _Who_?"

Balto's ears have perked up and he's standing now, watching her with alert eyes as she grabs her badge.

"It was Dr. Gilbert with his wife and daughter," he reports and Liz feels relief course through her bones along with a sickening sense of guilt.

Oh God.

 _Elena_.

"Is everyone okay?" she asks and the man hesitates, "Uh…Elena Gilbert is in the ambulance now, she somehow made it to the riverbank but Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert were already dead when we got here."

 _Dead?!_

Grayson and Miranda?

She'd got a voice call from Miranda just last night. In a week or so it would be summer vacation and Caroline would go up to the Gilbert Lakehouse with the family to have cook outs and roast marshmallows by bonfires while talking everyone's ear off about high school.

How could they be dead?

"I'll be there in five," she tells him, hanging up the phone and hurrying out of the office. She hears a clicking of claws on the floor and turns to see Balto following her.

She looks into his piercing blue intelligent eyes and hopes that he's as smart as Caroline says.

"Do you know where Caroline is?" she asks him, ignoring the deputies watching her as he nods.

"I need you to find her and get her to the hospital." She tells him and he pushes past her, loping down the steps and out into the night.

* * *

 _Two days later_

"Casserole or quiche?" Caroline asked Balto, standing in front of the t.v. and holding up the two recipes.

Balto gave her an unimpressed look and ignored the question.

"Come on, boy!" she complained, "What should I make Elena and Jeremy?"

The joint funeral for Elena's parents was tomorrow and she was being released from hospital this afternoon. Her aunt Jenna was looking after her for the moment but Caroline remembered that time Jenna had managed to nearly burn the kitchen down while trying to make tea.

She couldn't really do much for her friend, but she could at least bring her food.

"How about tuna casserole?" she decides, "Lots of cheese so it's really yummy."

Balto continues ignoring her, turning his head slightly so he can see the screen and she rolls her eyes, "Seriously?! You're the worst."

He huffs and climbs off the couch, following her into the kitchen and sitting by the fridge expectantly, "Oh, so now you're paying attention to me?" she teases, turning on the radio,

"Just like all the human guys."

A song she likes comes on and she reaches down, grabbing Balto's front legs and sitting him back on his haunches while she opened them up and raised them above his head, singing along to the song while the oven heats up.

Suddenly Balto goes still and drops down, his head shooting to the front door and he bolts out the back, so fast she can barely see him move.

She frowns, panic creeping up her spine but she knows that if anything was wrong, he would be protecting her…which means…

Bonnie's scream drowns out the doorbell and is followed by a sharp, "Shoo!"

Caroline sighs and heads to the door, "Sorry," she calls before she even has it open,

"You didn't drop anything did you?"

For some weird reason, Balto had it in for Bonnie and her Grams. In fact, he'd once tried to bite Grams and there'd been talks about maybe sending him up to a wildlife reserve but thankfully nothing had come of it. Bonnie he never tried to bite, but he loved to sneak up on her and either bark loudly to scare her or bump her and cause her to jump out of her skin.

At one point, Caroline was worried that Balto might be a little racist, but he totally liked the only other black person in town- although that was Mr. Robins who owned the deli and always had some meat waiting for him.

Bonnie's shoulders are tensed and she starts breathing in and out in a technique they learnt when Grams picked up meditation.

"All good." She says in a tight voice, holding up the dish in her hands,

"Grams vegetarian quiche," she tells her and Caroline's glad she'd chosen to make the casserole.

"I mean…I didn't know what else to do." Bonnie's shoulders slump, "It's just…how are you supposed to help your friend when they've lost their parents?"

Caroline takes the quiche and puts it on the bench where Balto knows he's not allowed to help himself, and pulls Bonnie into a quick hug,

"I don't know what to do either," she admits,

"I even went through all our tv shows to see if there was anything there but nope."

Bonnie raises her eyebrows, "Really Care? You think The OC is going to have advice on how to help Elena grieve?"

Caroline was about to add that she'd checked out the self-help section of the library too but only shrugs instead,

"What about you?" she asks, with a hint of condescension in her tone,

"What did you do?"

She sighs, "I asked Grams, but she had nothing beyond the general 'be there for her'"

Caroline hums and begins grating the cheese, Balto picking up on her mood and stretching out in the perfect spot to keep Bonnie on the other side of the kitchen.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Caroline is trying to juggle her handbag and the still warm dish while locking the front door. Balto slides past her and Bonnie takes a large step back, nearly losing her footing and falling off the porch,

"Does he have to come with us?" she asks, "Elena has enough to deal with without having to worry about him knocking stuff over or scaring the visitors."

Caroline spins to face her, "Excuse me, Balto is perfectly well-behaved, he's a good boy, aren't you…" she finishes by rubbing his head as she goes past,

"Besides, maybe an hour or two cuddling with him will be good for Elena, it helped me when my dad left town."

"Elena's not a dog person," Bonnie argues, "And there's a difference between your dad leaving and her dad dying."

Caroline rolls her eyes, "Yeah, Bonnie, I know but it won't hurt to bring him along."

The door is open when they get there and Balto is barely out of the backseat of Caroline's car- which admittedly, she did have to vacuum weekly- before he starts sneezing and she can guess why.

"The spinsters are here," she tells Bonnie, "Told you it was a good idea to bring Balto," she jerks her head, "Go say hi, boy."

He grins and drops low to the ground, easing his way up to the covered porch and moving to the living room window, he barks, sticks his head up and Caroline hears the shrieks of the old spinsters. Old Matrons of Mystic Falls who still called the Civil War the 'Attack of Northern Aggression' and hadn't allowed Sheila Bennett to join the Garden Society because she wasn't a founding family member. When Sheila had pointed out that her family had been the ones building Mystic Falls, they'd pointed out that as they hadn't contributed funds, it didn't count.

Caroline suspected that had something to do with the fact that not one flower planted by the Garden Society ever survived more than a week before it died.

The spinsters quickly hurry out of the house just as she and Bonnie reach the front door and Jenna appears after them, waving goodbye with a bit too much enthusiasm to be sincere.

She ducks her head out and sees Balto, "Hey killer," she greets, managing a small smile,

"Gonna come eat us all?"

Balto woofs and heads to the door, sitting down to wait patiently and Jenna frowns in confusion,

"Oh, he likes to be invited in," Caroline explains, "I don't know why."

She snorts, "Would you like to come in, evil wolf?"

Balto pads inside, Caroline and Bonnie stopping on the way to hug Jenna tightly, Caroline catches a whiff of alcohol and figures that she's probably hungover which means that her cheesy tuna casserole will definitely be appreciated.

Elena and Jeremy are sitting in the living room and both of them look terrible. Elena is still recovering from being hospitalized and clearly woozy from the painkillers while Jeremy's eyes were bloodshot from crying and he looked exhausted.

Caroline didn't know what to do after giving Jenna the food but she sees that Elena's hair is a mess so she grabs her emergency hairbrush out of her handbag and sits beside her on the couch, slowly getting to work on the tangles.

Bonnie sits in the armchair and clears her throat, "Um…how are you two?"

Jeremy snorts, "You know, everyone keeps asking us that, but they don't actually want to know the truth."

Elena frowns as Caroline hits a snag in her hair and she quietly apologizes before searching around for something to talk about,

"They're opening the drive-in this weekend," she says, "Maybe I could get us tickets and we could take Matt's pickup truck and…"

"I fought with Matt," Elena announces in a dull tone, "And I'm planning on breaking up with him."

Caroline is so shocked she stops brushing her friend's hair mid-stroke, " _Seriously?!_ _Why_ did I not know this? _When?_ "

Balto is sniffing around for the remote and she bops him on the head as soon as he's in reach, he glares at her and goes to the kitchen where Jenna is.

"It was when we were partying at the quarry," Elena recounts, "You were busy with Trent, Matt and I had a fight and I decided that we weren't working out. I told Bonnie."

Caroline turns on her friend, "And you didn't tell me?!"

Bonnie glared pointedly at her, "Considering everything that happened, I didn't think it was important!"

Right.

They fall silent then while Caroline finishes brushing Elena's hair,

"There," she declares, "Do you want me to get your straightener?"

Elena shakes her head, "Why bother?"

Caroline flounders, "It might make you feel a little better."

Elena turns around to face her, "My parents are _dead_ , Caroline, straight hair isn't going to magically make that go away."

Her cheeks flush with embarrassment and she stammers, "No…I…meant…"

"You'd look less terrible at least," Jeremy offers, with the barest hint of a humored smile,

"Right now you look like me trying to draw Medusa."

Caroline giggles but Elena bursts into tears and she immediately feels terrible, Jeremy's face falls and Jenna hurries out of the kitchen, wiping her mouth. She stares at her niece and then waves her hands, "Okay," she murmurs, "Let's get you to bed."

Jenna and Bonnie help Elena up the stairs, and Caroline wants to hurry ahead and make her bed for her but she wouldn't be able to get past them so she movies into the kitchen to see if there's anything she can do in there.

Nope.

But she does see Balto sitting by the window and with a suspicious dark red stain on his mouth. She lunges quickly, surprising him and grabbing him firmly by the nose so he can't escape, she tilts his head back and studies the stain,

"Jenna gave you wine didn't she?" she demands and he nods slowly, making her scowl,

"You have a drinking problem, Balto!" she tells him firmly and he nods again, completely unrepentant.

"Well, you can walk home!"

"That wolf is weird," Jenna smirks as she comes into the kitchen, "But as long as he's drinking I'm not drinking alone."

Caroline releases the wolf who pads back over to Jenna hopefully, and she holds up the bottle of red wine, waiting until he's tilted his head back and opened his mouth nice and wide so she can pour it almost straight down his throat.

If Caroline hadn't already taken him to the vet when he'd got into her daddy's beer last time he was in town, she would be panicking now, but the vet had done a full work-up on the wolf and told her that he was perfectly fine and in amazing health for a wild creature.

She sighs as the two of them finish the bottle and checks her watch, "I have to be home for dinner soon," she lies, "Is Bonnie still upstairs?"

Jenna nods, "Yeah, but she's comforting Elena, and I think she's getting her to take a nap which would be the first time she's really slept since she got back so…"

Caroline knows that Elena's not thinking clearly right now and Bonnie's just looking out for their friend but she still kind of feels rejected.

She goes to say goodbye to Jeremy but he perks up when she comes into the room and he looks so lonely that she doesn't want to leave him,

"Hey, Jer, could you do me a favor?" she asks, "Would you mind walking Balto home? I brought the car but I'm worried he's going to get carsick and I can't trust him to walk alone…"

Balto is hidden from Jeremy by a wall and looks deeply offended that she doesn't think he can make the twenty-minute walk but she shoots him a pleading look and he pads around and sits by the younger Gilbert. He looks down at the wolf and smiles again, "Sure, plus if he's with me I won't have every single person telling me how sorry they are I'm an orphan."

* * *

That night, Caroline carefully washed the wine stains from Balto's mouth,

"I know you're not a huge fan of Jeremy," she admits as he patiently endures the washcloth, "Or really, anybody who isn't me or doesn't give you food, but it sucks to lose family and you helped him feel good for a little while, so thanks."

Balto leans forward and presses his nose against her cheek and, in spite of everything, she smiles.

"I love you, too."

* * *

A/N- There we go.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- Okay, so I haven't updated in a while and there was a reason for that.

 **One of the reviewers last chapter accused me of hating on Bonnie and writing her as a villain in all my stories, and considering that I'm very impulsive, I had to take some time to regain my muse and make sure I didn't alter this story for one incorrect person.**

 **I don't hate Bonnie, as I've been forced to explain time and time again, I wrote her as a villain in only three stories (New Paths, New Lives and New Choices) which all take part in the same universe and two of which are just the same story told from different perspectives. She has featured in five of my other multi-chapter stories (Including Alpha Female which was removed from the site) where she has been on Caroline's side. When I do write her as a villain, it is because she's a witch and witches do make the best villains because of the sheer amount of options regarding powers and abilities whereas vampires and werewolves are much more limited.**

 **In the case of Pet Wolf, let's view this last chapter from Bonnie's perspective.**  
 **1\. Her best friend was in a car accident and both her parents died.**  
 **2\. She turns up at her other best friend's house where best friend's wolf deliberately scares her.**  
 **3\. She finds out that Caroline considered watching television shows a decent research method on helping friends grieve.**  
 **4\. Caroline insists on bringing the wolf to Elena's even though Bonnie knows that Elena's not a dog person**  
 **5\. At Elena's house Caroline focuses on Elena's hair, her relationship with Matt and socializing next weekend.**

 **I didn't realize how subtle I was being but I had planned to write Caroline as well-meaning but shallow in the last chapter as she was for much of the first season and show Elena and Bonnie's reaction to that.**

* * *

"No," Caroline whimpered, "Stop…please."

He ignored her and continued pulling, harder and harder until…

 _Bang_.

"Dammit Balto!" she shrieked, scrambling to keep herself off the floor as the bed sheet tore and she found herself falling over the side of the bed,

"How many times have I told you?! I'll get up when I get up."

Balto barked in disagreement and she threw her pillow at his head, feeling a savage burst of pleasure when he doesn't duck out of the way in time and it hits him square in the face, he sneezes and shakes his head.

"Serves you right," she snaps, pushing herself into a sitting position and groaning when her head pounds in protest,

"Seriously?! Why did I do tequila last night?"

She reaches blindly for her phone and checks the time, wondering a minute later why she even bothered, Balto knew her schedule and always woke her up with plenty of time to spare.

Because when she was running early, she'd stop past Starbucks for a coffee and he'd get a sausage from the deli a few doors up.

"Urgh, you're the worst," she snaps, grabbing her towel and stomping to the bathroom.

She grins to herself as an evil thought comes to her and spins around, lunging back towards her wolf.

And Balto is fast but she's learnt to anticipate his moves so when he veers left, she manages to hook her fingers under his leather collar and drag him down the hall.

She's done this before and after she learnt how to re-polish floorboards to cover Balto's scratch marks, her mom stopped caring as much,

"Come on, boy," she taunts as she gets him into the bathroom, "I reek of tequila but you reek of beer, so let's get you clean- huh?"

Last night there'd been a party at Tyler's and, even though Caroline had specifically ordered Balto to stay at home, when she and her friends had gone into the backyard for some fresh air, she'd seen her wolf sitting by the keg stand, being sprayed with beer by some drunken idiots.

And it wasn't the first time either.

She locks them both in the bathroom and grabs the detachable shower head, spraying it in his direction and, like he's going to his death, he climbs into the bathtub and closes his eyes, not opening them again until she's long turned off the shower and is drying her hair.

"You're safe now," she teases him, scratching his wet head as he shakes himself down, "Come on."

* * *

Now that she was a sophomore, Caroline didn't walk to school anymore, preferring to drive and her original excuse had been that it was safer than walking home at night but considering that with Balto at her side, she was the safest person in Mystic Falls, she'd eventually admitted that it was just cooler to drive.

Balto usually rode in the trunk, preferring it to the back seat because there was more room for him to move around and when Caroline pulled into the parking spot, she pressed the button beside her steering wheel, popping it open for him to let himself out.

A freshman girl shrieks at the sight of the wolf padding across the front lawn but Caroline only rolls her eyes.

Admittedly, when she'd gone away for cheerleading camp in Richmond, she'd left Balto at home, not wanting to be the freaky wolf girl, and had set about making friends with girls from the other schools there, unaware that he'd followed her anyway until the senior cheerleaders from Concord had decided to haze her. They'd left her tied to a tree in the woods with a pillowcase over her head and a few rashers of raw bacon nearby to try and lure animals in.

Caroline had been terrified until she'd heard the familiar sound of Balto eating up the meat. Unfortunately, he'd refused to help her until she'd apologized for leaving him behind in Mystic Falls but he'd eventually managed to tear the ropes with his claws and then, she'd snuck back into camp and spent the rest of the night hiding with the football team, who were sequestered across the other end of the site.

The next morning, the Concord girls had gone to get her and found only torn ropes and lots of blood- she reckoned Balto must have killed a rabbit or two- and had panicked, screaming up a storm while she sat eating breakfast and giggling with Matt and some of the other boys about all the alarm.

Most of the school administration and students had got used to seeing him loping around the school grounds, and he mostly kept to himself when he wasn't hanging in stoner corner and none of the drugs taken there had killed him yet, so they figured no harm-no foul.

He's long gone by the time Caroline's out of the car and she checks her reflection in the car window before heading into the building.

Her first order of business was finding Bonnie and Elena. She'd kind of grown apart from them a little bit over the summer, she'd been busy with visiting her dad and Steven and then with her fundraising and other activities, and every time she'd seen Elena she'd always seemed to say the wrong thing.

Like when she'd found out that Elena had taken to hanging in the cemetery and flat out told her it was not going to help her move on if she spent hours writing in a journal by her parents' graves and if she was going to do it at night, she should at least text Caroline so she could send Balto to walk her home.

That hadn't really been the most tactful thing to say but Bonnie had smoothed it over by going with Elena some days, reading books on psychics and ESP and that really hadn't been what Caroline was going for but, hey, at least Elena wasn't alone.

She heads to Elena's locker first before looking for Bonnie's and seeing the two of them standing there, she cuts a line straight to Elena and pulls her into a hug,

"Elena, oh my god, how are you? It's so good to see you."

She turned to Bonnie who hadn't been updating her on Elena's moods as much as she should have been, "How is she? Is she good?"

"Caroline," Elena interrupts, "I'm right here and I'm fine, thank-you."

"Really?" she asks in surprise and doubt, still seeing something in her friend's eyes.

"Yes," Elena continues, her voice still weird "Much better."

Caroline's about to call her on her lie but figures that the school halls wasn't the best place to do it and settles on another hug,

"You poor thing."

She hugs her tightly, hoping to make her feel safe and only realizes when Elena gasps her name that she's maybe close to suffocating her, "Okay Caroline."

"See you guys later?" she checks, before turning on her heel and walking off with a smile.

* * *

There was a new boy in school and he was hot!

Caroline caught a glimpse of him in the hallway and the cheerleaders were so busy texting one another that she had his schedule by the end of second period.

The sharks were circling the poor guy.

And Caroline was going to get there first.

She races out of English and catches him coming out of history.

"Hi," she beams, clearly surprising him, "Caroline Forbes, welcome to Mystic Falls and our high school!"

He has gorgeous green eyes and very strong jawline, there was a bit too much product in his hair but that could be fixed. He gave her a small smile,

"Hi, Stefan Salvatore, nice to meet you."

Caroline runs his name through her mind quickly, "Related to Zach Salvatore?" she asked, slowly turning and walking with him to his next class,

"Yeah, he's uh…my uncle."

"Oh," she covers her confusion with a smile, "I didn't even know he had a brother."

"Yeah…military family, we moved around a lot so I'm living with him now at the old Boarding House." He answers, scratching the back of his neck and she shrugs,

"Cool, that place looks awesome. Oh, some fun things you need to know about the town, there's not much to do here so we mostly meet up at the Grill after school if no-one's throwing a party. Football is huge here of course, but the team isn't that great, as opposed to us cheerleaders who collect trophies like their free taffy, you want to go shopping the best place for that is Richmond. Oh and when's your birthday and what's your favorite colour?"

"November twenty-first and blue." Stefan answers automatically and Caroline giggles,

"Sagittarius, nice. I'm a Scorpio myself, October tenth and my favorite color is purple."

She comes to a quick stop, "Oh, we went past your room," she grimaces, "Sorry about that. You're in there, and maybe I'll see you at the Grill tonight?"

He seems a little confused and Caroline figures it must be first day nerves, "Yeah, uh sure."

* * *

She doesn't see him for the rest of the day and is annoyed at that when she gets to the parking lot and sees Balto sunning himself on one of the picnic tables,

"Off," she tells him, snapping her fingers and he yawns, stretching lazily before stopping.

He's frozen and Caroline taps her foot, "Come on," she prompts, "I don't want to get caught in traffic."

He's not moving though, staring at her with bewilderment and she gives a little shake of her head,

"Seriously?! _What?_ "

He jumps of the table in a sudden, fluid move that startles a guy nearby into swearing loudly and getting lectured by a teacher. He raises himself up onto two paws and sniffs Caroline's shoulder, the same shoulder she'd 'accidentally' brushed against Stefan Salvatore earlier, he's sniffing deeply and she knocks him back,

"Yeah, new person, cute new person," she tells him, rolling her eyes, "Big deal…get in the car."

Balto's whine turns into a growl and she prods his front leg with her boot, "Move or walk."

He grumbles but follows her to the car.

* * *

"No," she tells him, "Nuh uh, I like this guy so you're staying at home."

She pads barefoot into the living room and grabs the remote, turning it to his favorite channel, "There, watch your news."

Balto's eyes flicker momentarily to the tv before he goes back to the front door and sits in front of it determinedly,

"You aren't going," she repeats, checking her reflection in the hallway mirror,

"Wherever Stefan lived before Mystic Falls, I'm guessing it wasn't wolf territory so he won't be used to you and I don't want him to think I'm weird."

Balto barks sharply and she jumps, not used to the sound, "Look, nobody has tried to attack me in years, I'm safe and it's just the Grill, I'll be fine! Besides, there's plenty of stuff for you to watch."

He doesn't move and she rolls her eyes, "You aren't going, get that through your thick wolf skull."

When it is time to leave, Caroline closes the hatch on the dog-door and hurries out the back, hearing Balto growl when he realizes what she'd done and he's barking loudly when she's backing her car out of the driveway.

Whatever guilt she might have been feeling is gone by the time she's walking into the Grill with Bonnie and debriefing her on Stefan Salvatore,

"You got all that in one day?" Bonnie asks in surprise and Caroline preens,

"Please, I got all that between third and fourth period, we're thinking a June wedding."

Bonnie falters slightly and Caroline hoped that she wasn't super into Stefan, she's about to say something when some of the cheerleaders call her over and she waves, "Hi!"

Half an hour later, she's checking her watch when she gets a call from her mom,

"Hey," she answers her phone, hoping like hell that her mom hasn't suddenly decided on family time, "What's up?"

 _"Is Balto with you?"_ her mom demands, sounding worried and Caroline looks around automatically before remembering why he wasn't there,

"No I left him at home, is something wrong?"

 _"Sweetie, the back door has been broken, the hatch must have got jammed somehow and he pushed his way through…"_

Caroline saw red, "I'll find him," she tells her mother in clipped tones before hanging up, and giving her friends a lot less lame version of what had actually happened, she heads out to the parking lot, cursing under her breath as she drops her keys and they skip across the asphalt, landing at the boots of none other than Stefan Salvatore.

Her bad mood disappears instantly, even though Elena's standing right next to him, which means they might have arrived together.

"Hi guys," she puts her best cheerleader smile on, "You're just in time, it's great in there right now."

Elena looks at her puzzled, "Are you leaving already?"

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes, "Balto's gone a little MIA, it's fine but I just have to check he hasn't headed to the drive-in cinema, you know how much he likes to sneak up on people when horror movies are playing."

Elena nods, "Balto is Caroline's pet," she explains to Stefan who has picked up Caroline's keys and is holding them out to her, she takes them slowly, letting their hands linger together when he freezes,

"Is Balto a wolf?" he asks, his voice cold and Caroline nods, "Yeah, how did you…"

Balto's growl nearly makes her hand stand on end and the flash of white flies past her, between her and Elena to knock Stefan off his feet. Elena shrieks as Caroline darts forward, grabbing a handful of fur and trying to tug him backwards as he barks madly, spittle flying from his jaws and faster than she can see, Stefan has shot to his feet and pulled Elena and himself several feet back.

Balto is still going postal, but Caroline manages to get a firm hand on his old rainbow collar and keeps ahold of him until she can move around to face him, kneeling down so that he would have to go through her.

He stops and sits back on his haunches, panting and a low growl still rumbling through him as he stares at Stefan. Caroline smacks him on the nose,

" _No!_ " she tells him, "Bad boy!"

"What the hell?!"

Caroline sees that a few people were attracted by the noise, Vicky, Matt and Jeremy, Bonnie keeping a fair distance and her cheeks flare in humiliation,

"I don't know." She mumbles, "Maybe something he ate?"

Elena stomps forward, "Something he ate? Caroline he could have _killed_ Stefan!"

Caroline runs a hand through her hair as Balto pads towards the Grill, "Balto has never killed anyone, Elena."

She looks for him then and nearly does a double-take.

Balto is sitting at Bonnie's feet, his head tilted back and whining softly; cautiously, Bonnie puts out her hand and touches the side of his face, he chuffs and leans in to her touch.

What the hell?! Balto and Bonnie hated each other!

Elena is watching the same thing she is and her eyes dart to Stefan, a little furrow appearing between her eyebrows. Caroline wants to diffuse the situation before word gets out that Balto is acting crazy, "I'm really sorry," she apologizes to Stefan, "He's usually really gentle, maybe your scent just set him off?"

Stefan clears his throat, "Yeah, uh, I had a burger when I got home, maybe I smell like dinner to him?"

No, that probably wasn't it.

Caroline manages a smile and heads over to Bonnie, who is about to have her outfit ruined by Balto's shedding fur, he leans up and licks her cheek pointedly and Caroline clicks her tongue,

"We get it," she tells him, whacking him on the head, "You don't like the new guy."

He nods, giving Stefan one last pointed look before heading into the Grill.

After a moment or two, everyone filed in as well and the only person who looked happy about the scenario was Matt.

* * *

A/N- Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- Here we go everyone!

* * *

Bonnie raised her head at the sound of the doorbell, frowning as she stood up from the dining room table. Not only was it before eight on a Saturday but she and her Grams didn't get many visitors who didn't knock or just go straight through the back garden where Grams sold them flowers, herbs or vegetables from the garden. The doorbell rings again and she raises her eyebrows, surprised by the rudeness,

"Coming!" she calls just as the doorbell rings for the third time.

"I said I was coming!" she shouts as she stomps to the door, if it turned out that Jehovah's Witnesses were canvassing the neighborhood again…

When the doorbell rings for the fourth time, she's about to swear and Grams starts grumbling from her bedroom where she had been sleeping in.

"Are you serious right now!" she asks, grabbing the door and flinging it open, "Are you…what the _hell_?!"

Balto was stretched up onto his hind legs, leaning his forelegs against the side of the house with his right paw on the doorbell.

A wolf was at her front door and repeatedly ringing the doorbell.

Maybe she was having a _really_ vivid dream?

Balto lowers himself back down and stares at her expectantly but she doesn't really know what she's supposed to do.

Balto had never come to her house before, when Caroline had come to visit he'd always left before she got to the porch and Grams had told her that she was never going to invite the wolf in.

Probably because Balto clearly hated her and Grams.

She looks past him to see if Caroline's nearby but doesn't see her, meanwhile, Balto lets out a sharp bark that has her ears ringing, "What is happening?"

"Look," she bends over to look him in the eyes, not that hard considering how big he was,

"I don't know what you want but I don't have any food and Caroline isn't here, okay?"

Balto lifts the corner of his lip and looks like a fifties greaser who's completely unimpressed by her.

"Bonnie," Grams shuffles into the hallway, "What's going… _ah_."

She straightens up as her grams stands beside her, crossing her arms and looking down at the wolf,

"What do you want?" she demands and Balto barks, causing her to smirk, "Sorry, I don't speak _dog_."

Balto growls and smacks the wood with his left foot, a weird movement for an animal and then he turns around, loping off the porch and Bonnie thinks he's leaving except that instead of walking off the lawn he goes around the side of the house to the garden.

Curious now, Bonnie closes the door and walks through the house with her grams,

"What is he up to?" she asks, "Should I tell Caroline that he's here?"

Grams shakes her head, "No, don't bother, he'll be gone soon enough."

Most of the backyard had been taken over by gardening boxes where Grams and Bonnie grew their own vegetables, herbs and other plants that could be eaten, turned into tea or made into home remedies. Balto pads through the garden now, looking at all the boxes until he comes across the one that Grams always took extra care with, the one that grew vervein at one end, wolfsbane at the other.

He sits down at the end with the vervein and opens his mouth to bark before snapping it shut and waiting patiently as Grams walks over and crouches down,

"Vervein huh?" she looks at the plant and then into his eyes, "Really?"

Balto nods and drags his paw along the ground, leaving a trail in the dirt and Grams hums,

"Okay, so is there one of them in town or more than one?"

More than one of _what_?

Balto shakes his head, and whines,

"You don't know?" Grams questions, "Can you find out?"

The wolf shakes his head again as Bonnie comes to the conclusion that there is definitely something happening here that she doesn't understand.

Why is her Grams talking to Balto like he can understand her? Why does Balto look like he can understand her and why are they having a conversation in the garden about whatever it is they're discussing?

"Okay," Grams straightens up, "Come back when you know more."

Balto barks sharply and holds his paw out to the vervein, "You want some for Caroline?"

The wolf nods and Grams sighs, "Okay, I'll figure out how to get some to her."

When he's wandered off, Bonnie follows her Grams inside, "What was _that_ all about?"

But her grandmother only sighs and shakes her head, "It's not a good day to tell you, child," she mutters, "Perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps never if he sorts the problem out himself."

"Problem?" Bonnie echoes, "What problem and how is a wolf going to sort it out."

Grams snorts and puts the kettle on the stove, taking an older tea out of the cupboard, one with flecks of purple that Bonnie had first thought was lavender but was actually vervein.

"That's a story for another day."

An hour later, Bonnie still can't get the weird situation out of her head, so she heads out to the backyard and heads over to the vervein where Balto had been standing, she sees the marks in the ground and wanders what A stood for.

Alien?

Attack?

She quickly realizes her mistake and positions herself so that she was standing where Balto had been and saw the mark from his perspective.

It was a V.

* * *

Caroline pointedly ignores the whining at her bedroom door,

"Nope," she calls when it's followed by a scratching, "Not letting you in."

Balto huffs and slumps down on the floorboards, clearly annoyed that he's still in Caroline's bad books.

When Caroline had taken him home last night she'd been shocked by the damage that he'd done to the back door. It looked like he'd literally thrown himself at it until it came off the hinges.

That would be expensive to replace.

She'd apologized to her mom but Liz had waved it off and taken Balto by the jaw, tilting his head back to look into his eyes,

"Why'd you do it, huh?" she'd asked and Caroline had rolled her eyes,

"There's a new boy at school and Balto doesn't like him." she'd explained, trying not to blush but Liz had only picked up on one part of that sentence,

"Caroline, I've never seen Balto go after anyone who wasn't bad, except your father but that's a different story."

Caroline had brushed off the warning, thinking that both her mom and her pet were overreacting, at the very least, Balto hadn't needed to _humiliate_ her in front of the damn Grill.

Still, she'd got her revenge- before she'd gone to bed last night, she'd unplugged the television so Balto couldn't watch his shows.

Hence the reason that he was whining at her door instead of giving her the silent treatment, he pads away after ten minutes but she hears him return soon enough and she jumps when a high-pitched squeak rips through the air.

Caroline's hair stands on end, recognizing the sound. That toy had been a present Balto had got for Christmas from a neighbor down the street and while he had initially hated the plastic duck with the squeaker in the stomach, he brought it out every time he wanted to annoy her into a response.

Like a pre-school boy pulling her pigtails.

She scoffs and turns on her mp3, putting her headphones into her ear and turning up the volume loud enough to drown out the squeaking.

She's stretched out on her bed, facing the window and so she can see when Balto heads outside to try and figure out why his technique hadn't been successful yet. He's still carrying the duck in his mouth and Caroline giggles at the ridiculous sight.

With great dignity, Balto drops the duck onto the grass and then sits down, putting his paw on the glass expectantly and Caroline slips off the bed and bends down to the window, placing her hand in the same place, "Hi."

He huffs in irritation and she pretends not to know what he's after, "Enjoying the day?"

He rolls his eyes and flops backward, onto his back with his paws in the air, feigning death and Caroline laughs, going back to her homework as he suns himself.

In the early evening, she gets bored and shoots Bonnie a text message, planning to head to the Grill but Bonnie suggests the drive-in cinema halfway to Richmond.

"Come on, Balto," she calls as she grabs her handbag and heading out the door, halfway to her car before she realizes that he isn't following her.

She turns around and walks around the side of the house, seeing the wolf still lying on his back, his eyes closed and breathing even, except that she can see his left eye open the tiniest bit.

He's faking.

She snorts and puts her hands on her hips, reaching out and prodding his side with her foot.

He doesn't move.

"Okay, boy," she bends down and runs a hand through his fur, "You stay here and sleep, I guess I'll head out without you."

She has the car door and is sliding inside before Balto rolls himself onto all fours and pads over to the driveway, moving around the car to where Caroline had popped the trunk, which he now nudges up with his paw and clambers inside before using the same paws to push it back down again.

"You're so weird," she murmurs as she starts the engine.

* * *

She picks Bonnie up from the library, pulling to a slow stop on the curb in front of the benches where her friend was waiting for her, sitting with her legs crossed and with a book in her lap.

A book she hastily shoves into her satchel when Caroline waves to her from the window,

"Ooh, what have you got there?" she teases as her friend climbs into the passenger seat, "A romance novel?"

Bonnie snickers, "Nothing interesting."

Caroline waits for her to elaborate but the silence hangs between them,

"Okay," she drawls, "Hey, should we invite Elena to come with us?"

"Um…I think Elena's doing something with Stefan," Bonnie says cautiously and Caroline's shoulders drop,

"Are you okay?" she adds and she sighs, "Yeah, I figured when Balto tried to rip his throat out in the parking lot that nothing was going to happen."

Balto snorts from the trunk, his head resting on the backseat and Caroline turns to glare at him, "Don't think I'll be plugging the tv back in any time soon."

He whines, dropping out of sight and Bonnie watches the exchange through the rearview mirror,

"So...Balto understands everything you say, right?" she asks,

"Uh huh," Caroline nods, focusing on the Saturday evening traffic, "Yeah, answers questions and everything, like when I can't find my keys or the shoes I want to wear, he helps me find them."

"But that's weird, right?" Bonnie argues, "I mean, dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years and only understand certain sounds like sit or walk, and only when they've been repeated enough in the right tone. So how does Balto understand sentences?"

Caroline shrugs, looking over her shoulder before merging, "I don't know, he just does…hey boy," she calls and he raises his head into view,

"Do you want to grab something to eat before the film?"

Balto nods and disappears from sight again, "See," she prompts Bonnie, "He understands me."

Bonnie chews on her nail, "And that's not normal," she points out, "If we went to the zoo right now or a wolf sanctuary and started talking to the wolves, they wouldn't respond like that."

Caroline snorts, "Right, they'd totally try to eat us, but what are you suggesting Bonnie? You think Balto's a top-secret lab experiment?"

"Balto?" she calls and this time, Balto begrudgingly lifts his head, his eyes barely open,

"Are you a top-secret lab experiment?"

He ignores her and lies back down.

Caroline giggles, "Okay, so where should we eat?"

Bonnie drops her hands into her lap and gives herself a little shake before smiling, "Whatever you feel like."

* * *

It's close to ten by the time the movie ends and Caroline barely waits until the credits are rolling before turning to Bonnie in the passenger seat,

"Okay, so I know that the books are always better than the movie, but…that was great, right?"

Bonnie grins and daintily tosses a piece of popcorn in her mouth, having managed to make it through the full movie without eating her entire box which was something Caroline could never do.

"Yeah, I mean, they seem to have cast everyone perfectly, although some of the scenes were ridiculous, the rest were pretty good."

"Right!" Caroline gushes, "And they cast Edward perfectly, I'm so glad we got to see this!"

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees, but her tone is low and her voice is weak, Caroline frowns,

"You okay?"

She sucks on her lips and reaches down for her satchel, "Um…I just…need a moment."

"Oh," Caroline nods, "Uh huh, I've got a box of emergency tampons and pain killers in the glove box, the restroom is over there,"

She points to the dimly lit brick building by the edge of the tree line, "I have to go find Balto anyway."

About ten minutes into the movie, Balto had begun clawing at the trunk, yapping like he was being tortured when Caroline didn't immediately let him out and he'd quickly disappeared into the night.

She hopes that he hadn't been spotted by any of the other cars in the lot, her mom had had to explain him to a few of the Richmond police departments and they totally weren't cool with having a wolf wander around on their jurisdiction.

Hopefully, anyone who saw him would just think he was an overgrown husky.

She weaves her way through the cars, carefully checking the small road before crossing and edging along the forest, keeping her eyes peeled but not seeing any white fur.

And walking in the dark with only the beams of passing headlights and very little noise is kind of creepy.

The drive-in is large, an old factory ground that had been levelled with only a brick wall remaining where they hung up the screen. It was surrounded by small forest on three sides and a quiet, suburban road on the fourth. There were a few lights but they had been dimmed in preparation for closing and people were heading out quickly, making the place deserted and a perfect setting for a horror movie.

Deciding that she'll just wait for Balto to come back to the car, Caroline runs her hands up her arms nervously as she doubles back and picks up her pace in relief when she sees the brick toilets.

Bonnie walks out of the tiny building, fiddling with her satchel, not looking where she was going and heading around the side instead of towards the cars. Caroline rolls her eyes and is already thinking of what she was going to say, something along the lines of 'This is classic horror girl mistake' when she hears her shout.

" _Get off of me!_ "

Caroline slows down, confused and when she realizes that she's close to stopping, she forces herself to pick up her pace, telling herself that Balto must have jumped Bonnie, or perhaps he's just teasing her and everything will be fine.

Still, even as she keeps repeating in her head that everything is okay, she reaches into her handbag for her keys, threading them through her fingers and her knees are trembling as she hears a male voice growling something.

The threat was _human_.

"Bonnie!" she calls, loudly, "Come on, it's time to go."

She fixes a fake smile on her face as she rounds the corner, seeing a tall, wide back that nearly blocked her small friend from sight,

"There you are," she laughs, holding out her hand,

"My mom is waiting for us."

Bonnie doesn't look at her, she doesn't take her eyes away from the man's face and her hands are clenched into fists,

"Caroline," she spits through gritted teeth, " _Run!_ "

 _Shit_.

Caroline rips her handbag off her shoulder and throws the strap around the man's neck, pulling backwards as she punches him in the side of the neck with the keys, but he doesn't go down, "Somebody help!" she screams- or tries to, but her voice is a croak and she tries again, making it echo off the brick building.

The man grabs the strap around his neck, pulling it forward and she releases it just before he rips the strap into two. He turns on her and her blood runs cold.

His eyes are completely black, with veins protruding from his forehead and he has fangs.

He looks so weird that she wants to laugh, a part of her brain thinking maybe this was a Twilight fan gone wrong but he grabs her arm and throws her, her back connecting with the brick wall and she's winded, dropping to the ground as she struggles to breathe.

The man turns back to Bonnie and attacks her, grabbing her shoulders to hold her still and rearing his head back…

Which left his neck exposed, a fact that Balto exploited when he lunges from the tree line and lands on the man, sinking his teeth deep into his throat.

Blood spurts out as the man flails backward but regains his foothold as he tries to shake the wolf off him, his arm moves faster than Caroline can track and whacks Balto in the stomach, causing him to fall, dragging his teeth and claws all the way down the man's body.

The man roars in pain, turning on Balto and Caroline realizes that he wants to kill him.

But her wolf doesn't move, he holds his position, his fur standing up and his teeth bared, growling as blood drips from his mouth, Caroline lifts herself to her feet ready to attack from behind when the man suddenly doubles over, gasping in pain and disappears.

One moment he was there and the next- he was, gone.

She stands there, her brain trying to make sense of the situation and she turns to Bonnie who doesn't look much better off.

"Um…what just happened?" she asked and her friend staggered over to her, reaching down and linking their hands together,

"I don't know." She says, her voice uncertain.

Balto whines and pads over to Caroline, about to press his face onto her stomach when she automatically reels back,

" _Eew_ boy, no," she protests, "You're covered in…blood."

She starts shaking, "We have to wash this off him," she gasps, her mind already racing, "If the guy calls the police…or if someone sees Balto, they'll have him put down."

Balto whines again, trembling slightly and she puts a hand on his head, guiding him to the female toilets which were totally empty, with only one lone bulb providing any light.

"Go grab my car," she orders Bonnie, only just remembering that her handbag was outside,

"Get it as close to here as you can."

Caroline heads to the towel dispenser to see that it's empty and curses, grabbing a roll of toilet paper from one of the stalls and quickly figuring that it wouldn't be enough.

"Okay," she heads to the sink and begins running the water, "This is totally not going to work."

She cups the water in her hands, twists to Balto and sees that she's not being sensible, so she lets the water fall back into the sink and reaches down, tugging his forelegs up onto the sink.

He resists, acting lethargic and she splashes him with the water, rubbing at the blood with toilet paper and quickly running her hands over him to check for any injuries.

As far as she can figure out, he seems fine, but he's panting and his eyes are following her every moment in a way that's scaring her.

"Hey," she cups his jaw in her dripping wet hands, "It's okay boy, no-one will know and no-one will ever hurt you, I promise."

He barks and she kisses his brow quickly before washing him down some more, turning his fur from blood-red to a weirdly pretty-pink. She hears Bonnie pull the car up and figures that Balto is as clean as she's going to get him in a run-down public toilet, so she hurries to the door, checks that no-one else is around before ushering him into the backseat.

He moves slowly and she has to boost him to get him into the car which has her worrying, so she strokes his head gently, makes sure that he is comfortable and moves to the driver's side.

"Okay," she says once they're on the highway and there's no other cars around, "So, we need to work on our cover story."

Bonnie stares at her as if she's gone crazy, "Caroline, we were attacked, we need to call your mom!"

She's shaking her head before her friend has even finished speaking,

"Nuh uh, no way, this was out of her jurisdiction and if the cops hear that Balto attacked someone- even if he was defending us- they'll have him put down, I'm not letting that happen, besides…" she adds, "What would we even say? That a guy with black eyes, weird veins and fangs attacked us? They'll think we're crazy."

"We'll just say we hung out and talked after the movie while Balto slept in the trunk," she decides and Bonnie huffs but doesn't disagree so she considers the matter closed.

* * *

She's still a little rattled when they get back to Mystic Falls, so Bonnie has to point out that she'd driven past her house before she stops the car to let her out, maybe muttering something about seeing her tomorrow and swerving away from the curb a little loosely.

When she pulls into her own driveway, she's so relieved to see that her mom isn't home that she exhales noisily and closes her eyes for a moment.

In the backseat, Balto opens his eyes and whines again, worrying her and she unbuckles herself quickly, unlocking the front door and opening the car door for him, he limps out and she wonders if she should call the vet and ask about internal injuries.

Except when she gets her phone out, Balto catches her attention with a bark and shakes his head,

"You don't need help?" she asks, scratching his ears and he shakes his head again,

"Okay, but how about a bath?"

He shakes his head again and limps inside slowly, making his way to her bedroom and lying down on his bed.

Caroline kneels beside him and strokes him gently, "Are you okay, boy?"

She fights the fear clogging her chest and throat, "You're not going to leave me, are you?"

He raises his head, shakes it and licks her hand before lying down again, panting harder now and Caroline presses her fist to her mouth, walking slowly from the room to fetch his water bowl so he wouldn't get dehydrated.

She's running it under the sink when she hears his yelp of pain turn into a scream and she races into her bedroom, skidding to a stop when her eyes land on Balto's bed.

He's gone.

The creature lying on his blankets wasn't a wolf.

It was a man.

* * *

A/N- Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

_Two days later_

"Boo!"

Bonnie barely smothered the shriek in her throat before turning to her grandmother,

"Why would you scare me like that?" she demands as the older woman crosses her arms,

"Maybe because you've been staring out that window every chance you get," she answers, "You looking for someone?"

She doesn't immediately answer because she doesn't know how exactly and fear still chokes her.

She was looking.

For the thing that attacked her at the drive-in two nights ago, the thing that had ordered her to stand still as it had bared fangs at her.

The vampire.

She had thought she was going crazy but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

The book she'd borrowed from the library had been about the lore of Mystic Falls and how vervein was a vampire repellent, it had described how they looked when they attacked and how they could talk their victims into doing anything.

What that didn't explain was why Balto had been able to drive him off.

But he was still out there and what if he came back for her?

Or for Caroline?

Her best friend had told her not to say anything to anyone, in case they decided to put Balto down and Bonnie had agreed because Caroline adored that weird wolf.

But if that creature came back for her.

"Grams," she whispered as she came to her decision, "Are vampires real?"

When her grams doesn't start chuckling and calling her crazy, she all but confirms her suspicions.

"What happened?" she asks, taking her arm and leading her to the kitchen, sitting her down as she begins brewing a cup of tea and Bonnie confesses everything.

When she's done, Grams hands her the peppermint tea and hugs her,

"I'm sorry," she murmurs, "I should have told you earlier but I wanted to spare you as long as possible."

She sits down beside her, "Let me start from the beginning."

* * *

" _Caroline_!"

She jumped as her mom shouted her name, "Yeah?"

Liz put her hands on her hips, "I've been talking to you for the last ten minutes, were you listening to a word I said?"

Caroline drops her gaze, "Sorry."

Her mom waves her hand, "I was asking where Balto is? The men are here to attach a new dog door and didn't believe me when I said we'd need one custom made."

"Oh," she swallowed nervously, "Uh, we were in the forest and he found a wolf trail and was really excited so he followed it and he hasn't come back yet so I think he found a pack."

Her mom blinks in surprise, "He left you?"

She nods, "I mean, I'll miss him but if he found wolves to be with, that's a good thing and I'm sure he'll be back at some point."

Liz walks over to the couch, sitting down beside her and drawing her into a hug,

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry."

She sniffs and buries her face in her neck, "It's fine, mommy, I'm fine and happy for him."

Her mom leaves for work a few minutes later and Caroline can only be relieved that she'd fallen for the lie.

The lie she'd come up with after…after.

* * *

 _She stared in horror at the naked man on Balto's blanket._

 _She glances around through the corner of her eyes for her wolf but he's nowhere to be seen._

 _The man is groaning as he lifts his head, blue eyes meeting hers and it's the familiarity of them, the exact same shade that she'd seen every day for years that shocks her into action._

 _She takes one slow step backward and when he twitches she bolts, racing from her room and slamming the door behind her, her throat closing in fear as she sees the dark, empty house before her._

 _There was no-one to help her._

 _She made a path for the bathroom, thinking to hide in there with her legs against the door as she'd been taught to do in home invasions but at the last second, figures that she should be headed outside, to her neighbors for help._

 _She spins quickly, twisting her ankle and loses her balance, the hardwood floor rushing up to meet her but before she hits it, she finds her fall interrupted._

 _By the naked man._

 _His holds her clumsily, with his arms instead of his hands and they tangle together, with her ending up sitting on his knees which are bent at odd angles. She freezes and closes her eyes, tucking her chin into her chest as she tries to make herself small._

 _A forehead presses against her hair and a nose pushes into her cheek as the man growls, his hold on her too tight for her to break._

 _"Care…line…" he grunts, his voice rough as gravel._

 _She has to hold her legs together so she doesn't pee herself in her fright, and she when she can speak, her voice is shaky and weak,_

 _"Please…" she whimpers, having to swallow a few times just to speak, "Please don't kill me."_

 _He growls and a sob escapes her but he moves his head, turning it from side to side and rocking them in the process._

 _"Nnnn," he grunts and squeezes her tighter, sniffing deeply and a tear escapes her eye._

 _He huffs and sounds so much like Balto then that something in her stomach eases ever so slightly and she can open her eyes._

 _"Care…o…lin." He tries again, before slowly releasing her and shifting her with his forearms so that she was on the floor._

 _Using his wrists, he struggled up into a standing position, staggering and nearly falling and Caroline has to turn her face as she finds herself at eye-level with his junk._

 _He moves shakily, testing each step before taking another one and he's flexing his fingers the entire time, shaking his hands and growling as he lumbers into the kitchen._

 _There's a bang and she jumps, curling forward and bracing herself in case it was a gun shot._

 _She counts to one hundred and fifty, three times before she can bring herself to sit up and then she can only bring herself to crawl over to the doorway leading into the kitchen._

 _When she doesn't see anyone, she pulls herself to her feet and inches toward the back door._

 _They had been waiting for the contractors to come and re-install it properly so in the meantime, they'd had it held in place and just not used it._

 _He had knocked it out as he left._

* * *

It had taken a lot of her strength but she'd managed to get the door back in place and then, she had gone to her room, dropped onto her bed and burst into tears.

She hadn't even begun trying to rationalize what had happened until the next morning, after a sleepless night spent in terror that the man would come back.

The man.

Her wolf was gone.

He'd been replaced by a man.

But had that man always been there?

Was it like the Frog Prince?

Except she hadn't kissed Balto that day.

And she's pretty sure that someone would have mentioned a missing prince.

Her mind was whirling from one thought to the next and she'd turned on the television, watching some Disney movie to try and distract herself.

Except that the house felt weird without her wolf in it, without his presence.

And for the first time in years, she felt unprotected.

* * *

Stefan had had such hopes when he came back to Mystic Falls.

He'd wanted to settle down and start over again, go back to high school to give himself a few extra years in the town before he inevitably had to move on to hide the fact that he never aged.

He'd saved Elena Gilbert, the girl who looked so much like Katherine, and she was so much better.

She was sweet and kind and he was definitely falling for her.

But as soon as he'd started to relax it had happened.

'It' being his brother Damon.

He'd swung into down and almost immediately begun ruining things for him.

Stefan hated how much pleasure his older brother got from wrecking his life.

Hell, he was even freaking ecstatic to ruin his morning.

"Rise and shine, baby bro!" Damon sang and before Stefan could even think to open his eyes, a bucket of ice was dropped onto his head.

He gasps and splutters as the ice cascades over his skin, sitting up and cursing under his breath as he grabs the clock on his bedside table.

It was only just coming on six am.

"Are you happy?" he snapped, wiping his eyes as Damon propped a knee on his bed,

"Of course." he remarked cheerfully, "I'm always happy, you know that."

"At the expense of good people," Stefan points out, "Who don't deserve the problems you rain down on them."

"Speaking of problems," Damon continues affably, "We have a problem."

Stefan glowered, throwing his blankets off and climbing out of the bed, "We don't have anything."

"A vampire body was found in the woods last night, halfway between here and Richmond," Damon elaborates, ignoring the attempted dismissal, "And, because I'm in with the Sheriff, I got to examine it."

"So?" Stefan demands as he grabs his towel, "Anyone we know?"

"Nope," he pops the word, "But I have no idea what killed the guy."

Well, there weren't many things that could kill a vampire.

"The body wasn't burnt?" Stefan asked, in spite of himself, "Heart wasn't penetrated or missing?"

"No to all of the above," Damon reported, "And here's where it gets weird, it looked like he had been poisoned."

That was weird, because the only poison Stefan knew of was vervein and when a vampire ingested it in large enough quantities, the body didn't stay intact.

For lack of a better description, it melted.

"Okay," he admits, "That's weird, what's that got to do with us?"

Damon rolls his eyes in clear irritation, "Because, little brother, if there's a poison in our immediate vicinity capable of taking out a vampire, I'd like to know what it is and how to get rid of it."

Stefan sighed, beginning to feel his resolve weakening, his surrender imminent,

"Okay," he allows, "Let me know what happens."

He steps into his bathroom and turns on the shower, running his hand under the water and splashing it around enough so that when Damon turned off the hot water in five minutes, he would think that his brother was standing under the spray.

Fortunately, Stefan had had a secondary system installed so that he could switch over and use water from the tank system.

* * *

When Sheila had discovered the note rolled around one of her vervein flowers that evening, she thought it was some sort of prank. The handwriting had started off so messy as to have been written by a preschooler, becoming letter by letter more determined until it finished in clear block letters,

' _It's the hybrid,_ ' it began, ' _I want to talk to you tonight_.'

It wasn't signed but there was no need, as there was only one hybrid in existence, Sheila wasn't likely to be confused as to whom her impending visitor was.

She flared her eyes and set the note on fire, burning it with a small thrill of satisfaction.

Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as safe to reject the self-invitation to her property. The Original family and the Bennett's had existed in uneasy truce for centuries now, the fond memories of Ayana bestowing the cold ones with enough gratitude to spare her descendants.

However, considering how famously and murderously impulsive these spoilt children tended to be, Sheila wasn't about to test the limits of that affection.

Especially with her granddaughter in the house.

So, she pretends to go to bed early, waiting until she hears Bonnie in her room before bringing out her sage and burning it, carrying it with her as she crept back downstairs.

She goes into her backyard and is grateful that her years of tending her plants by moonlight had successfully convinced her neighbors that she was no more than a crazy old pagan and they wouldn't watch from their windows.

Even with her carefully cultivated reputation as a harmless old biddy that was best left alone by much of the town, a young man in her garden at night would be grounds for gossip.

The moment her feet touch the earth, she feels coldness, the encroachment of death in her garden of life, where even her plants seemed to draw back in fear.

"Klaus, I presume?" Sheila muttered as the creature stepped from the shadows.

She had heard old tales of this one, how he had the beauty of angels contrasted against the evil of demons.

She begrudgingly admits that the witnesses hadn't lied, he was handsome with blonde curls, blue eyes and youthful features.

He's dressed in a Henley, jeans and a pair of boots that clash with the outfit and probably cost a few hundred dollars into the bargain.

"Adjusting to your new form I see?" she jests and he scowls, "After centuries trapped in wolf form, I think that I am able to walk as a biped at all cause for praise."

"How did you finally break the curse?" she asks, curiosity getting the better of her and he can only shrug,

"I don't know, one moment I'm saving your granddaughter from death and the next I'm in agonizing pain as I transform. Unfortunately, in my angrier days, I hunted and slaughtered to extinction the coven that had cursed me in the first place, so there's no-one living to tell me why it is I am in my true form now."

There's a smirk on his plump, red lips as he recalls that cruelty and Sheila resists the urge to shudder,

"Why come to me then?" she demands, "As far as I knew, as far as anyone knew, you were dead. Had I not encountered you first hand with the Forbes girl, I would have been none the wiser. So, I have no information for you."

At the mention of Caroline, the creature's eyes flash, "I merely wished to remind you of our agreement," he explains smoothly,

"Considering I saved little Bonnie's life, the very least you could do is keep a protective eye…and perhaps a protective spell, on…Caroline."

Sheila hummed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Or you could take five minutes out of your day to figure out who the vampires in town are and drive them out."

His smirk is calculating and cruel, "I'd rather not, I have a different idea for them in mind."

Without warning, he flashes forward until he is barely an inch from her face,

"I behaved myself for the last half-decade, but don't think for a second that you had any bearing on my decision to do so," he snarls, his breath hot and rancid on her skin,

"The once mighty Bennett's have been reduced to an aging crone, an absent or dead mother and a young girl not even trained in the craft. I fear you not."

He steps backward, clasping his hands behind him and gives a small bow, "Please do be so kind as to review my offer," he suggested in a tone so sweet as to almost give the illusion that she had the option of refusing.

 _Almost_.

And then he is gone, with only a small trail of wind in an otherwise still night to leave any clue that he had ever been there.

Grumbling darkly, Sheila heads indoors to her old sewing room that she'd converted into her spell room and touches the necklace she'd pressed a tiny stem of vervein into.

It would do the trick until she could figure out a protection spell.

* * *

Caroline had plugged together four extension cords and had wrangled the vacuum into the driveway before she realized that she couldn't go through with it.

She didn't want to clean her trunk of the wolf fur that had gathered over the last week and a half.

That wasn't to say she wanted her car to remain filthy but she'd already thrown the blanket in the laundry, cleaned the couch and thrown all the toys and other random things in a box to be thrown away.

This was the last piece of her life outside of photos where her pet had existed.

The vacuum is whirring in her hand but she lifts her foot to press the power button, turning it off and letting the sound fade into silence.

She bites her lips before bending down and picking up the machine, ready to lug it inside and find another means of distracting herself when she gets a sensation that she's no longer alone.

She straightens up and looks around, not seeing any sign of life from her neighbors or any pedestrians on the street.

But he had always been good at hiding.

"Balto?" she calls his name, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She's not sure what she wants exactly, does she want to continue being alone for the first time in years? Does she want her wolf to come back as if it had all been a bad dream? Or did she want the man to come and explain everything to her?

In the end, it doesn't matter, because when she gives up and heads inside, she sees that she wasn't getting any of the three options.

Instead, she got a present.

A malamute puppy was sitting in a cardboard box with a perfect pink bow tied around its neck.

It whined as she knelt to hold out her hand before yipping with excitement and lunging forward to lick every inch of her skin within reach until she grips it around the middle and holds it up, exposing its bare belly.

"So, you're a girl," she says to the puppy, which obviously doesn't understand a word she has said.

"Where'd you come from?" she wonders aloud, looking around her hallway but not seeing any sign of anyone else. The puppy was kicking her legs and overturned the pink blanket she had been sitting on, revealing an envelope tucked into the corner.

Caroline puts her back in the box and takes it out, having to snatch it quickly when the puppy made to lunge for it. She holds the thick parchment out of reach and puts her left hand down so it could be used as a means of distraction while she tore the envelope with her right.

A sheet of paper and a card falls out, she opens the paper first and sees ownership papers for one malamute puppy in her name, with vaccination, neutering and microchip details printed nearly.

According to the certificate, the dog was called Jenna and with a little bit of apprehension, she picks up the card,

' _Dear Caroline,_

 _I cannot fathom your attitude towards me at this current point in time, though I do hope for the chance to redeem myself in your eyes at a later date. Regardless, I do not care for the thought of you alone and thus, provide you with this substitute for the companionship that we shared for all our years together._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Your Wolf'_

Jenna barks and begins chasing her tail, causing Caroline to giggle before she heads over to the box she had been planning to toss away. Taking out the squeaking duck, she waves it to catch the puppy's attention before throwing it down the hallway.

In her excitement, Jenna tips over the box, scrambling out and racing across the floor, triumphantly scooping up the toy and biting down on it in repeated ecstasy.

She trots obediently over to Caroline and drops it at her feet, sitting down even as her tail beats loudly against the floor,

"Good girl," she laughed, patting her head, "And fetch!"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N- Hey Everyone!

This was originally going to be two chapters but eff it.

* * *

' _Dear Caroline,_

 _I cannot fathom your attitude towards me at this current point in time, though I do hope for the chance to redeem myself in your eyes at a later date. Regardless, I do not care for the thought of you alone and thus, provide you with this substitute for the companionship that we shared for all our years together._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Your Wolf'_

Caroline sighed and folded the paper in half, along the crease and let her hand fall back onto the covers.

It was just past midnight and she must have read that short note a thousand times now.

But the answer to what she was supposed to do hadn't magically revealed itself any of the times she had opened it.

She hears a snort and tilts her head to see Jenna curled up on her bed, twitching in her sleep. She'd put off thinking about the note and everything that it meant and playing with the puppy until her mom had arrived home to find Jenna chewing on the runner carpet.

Caroline had managed to convince her that she'd bought her on a spur of the moment whim and that she'd got a huge discount for her, despite the fact that she was clearly a purebred.

Lucky for her, the Sheriff had been distracted by work.

Reaching down, she scratches her puppy behind the ear, noticing the way she leans into the touch and huffs without waking up.

She was so different from the way Balto had been. He had always slept so silently at night and stretched out, taking up as much space as he could on his blanket.

Probably because she was a real animal and not whatever he had been.

Right?

The word echoes in her mind but she pointedly ignores it because there's a line between the world she knows and the one that Balto inhabits and she's not sure that she's ready to cross that yet.

Her thumb flicks the letter and she's about to hold it up again when she drops it back with a huff.

Okay.

The wolf she'd thought was her pet for five years had turned into a guy and she wasn't exactly sure what to do about that.

Should she tell her mom?

But he hadn't exactly broken any law…except when he'd saved her and Bonnie from whatever the thing had attacked them was.

She exhales and closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

What she needed to do was speak to him.

* * *

Caroline has the trunk of her car open before she even realizes that the puppy squirming in her arms is way too small to sit back there.

"Okay," she kisses Jenna's head, "You've been upgraded to the front."

She lowers Jenna gently onto the front passenger seat and watches from the window as she clambers across to the driver's side,

"Sorry, sweetie," she picks her up by the scruff of her neck and puts her back, "I'm the licensed driver here."

The puppy looks around curiously, sniffing the cushion before pushing herself up onto two paws and looking out the window as Caroline slowly backs out of the drive.

Balto had always refused to put his head out the window, giving a long-suffering look whenever anyone had suggested it but Jenna looks as though she would if she were big enough.

When they stop at a red light, she carefully climbs across the seat and settles into Caroline's lap, curling up and putting her head on her paws. She looks so adorable that she can't bring herself to put her back, so for the rest of the ride, she just drives extra-carefully.

It was a Sunday, but when she parks in the dirt, make-shift lot where teens either went to make-out or drink, there was only a few other cars there.

And she figures the owner of those cars would be sitting around or swimming in the Quarry.

But she's not headed there.

She doesn't think.

Instead, she walks Jenna to the place where she and the wolf first met.

She can't remember the spot exactly but knows more or less the right location and Jenna pulls ahead, stopping every so often to look around and make sure Caroline was still at the other end of the lead.

Reaching the area where she had set up the picnic all those years ago, she backtracks a quarter-mile and finds a log to sit down on and wait.

It's only then that she wonders if she's being an idiot.

After all, how would the guy even know she was here?

But Balto had always known where she was, besides, it wasn't like she could have called him or left a note, she didn't even know his name for crying out loud.

So, here she was, on that overcast day, with the birds chirping loudly and the trees rustling in the slight wind, waiting, watching as Jenna pounced at random sticks and breaking them into tinier pieces.

She hears a someone approaching and raises her head, "Balto?" she calls nervously, hoping it wasn't some random, because that would be embarrassing.

And it turns out that it totally is.

The guy that walks through the gap in the trees is wearing biker boots and all black, with pale blue eyes and a smarmy grin that makes it obvious that he totally knows how cute he is.

"Now, what kind of name is Balto?" he asks, crossing his arms and leaning his shoulder against a tree, and Caroline blushes,

"A wolf's name," she answers, smiling even as something close to fear shoots down her spine,

"Um…are you new to town?"

He comes forward but she doesn't move and Jenna looks up in confusion and barks sharply at him.

"Damon," he announces, holding out his hand but she doesn't take it, remembering the name,

"Stefan's older brother?" she guesses, and tugs on Jenna's lead when she tries to nip at his ankles.

Balto had lost it when he'd met Stefan and now that she knows that weird things exist in the world, she's not entirely sure she wants to get to know this guy.

No matter how smoking hot he is.

"That's the one," he confirms, bending down and looking straight into her eyes.

Suddenly, she feels herself going numb, unable to move or break eye contact, waiting patiently to hear him speak. She wants to shake it off, to wake herself up, but she can't even will herself to think about doing that.

"Now…" he says, his voice low and firm, "Why don't you..."

And then he's _gone_ and it's like she's been doused in a bucket of cold water. She sits up with a gasp and touches her neck, feeling a strange urge to cover it and looking around totally confused as Jenna barks madly.

She hears a strangled cry and sees Damon pressed facedown into a tree, his head turned to the side and his arm twisted behind his back, with a blonde man gripping him by the hair,

"If you _ever_ …" he seethes into his ear, his voice cold and frightening in its fury, "Go near her _again_ or even _think_ about compelling her, I'll visit a death on you crueler than you could even imagine."

With a flick of his hand, he sends Damon flying, straight into another tree which he hits so hard that it cracks and splinters down the middle,

"Leave!" he orders, clenching his fists and Damon snarls his lip in a look of pure hatred but disappears.

Like, disappears as in one moment he was there and then he just vanished, with only a few leaves fluttering where he'd once stood.

And Balto in human form, with his back to her, his shoulders rising and falling as he takes deep breaths and she notes his clenched fists with a thrill of inherent fear before he spreads his fingers wide, straightens his back and turns to face her.

His hair is a mess of blonde curls, his eyes are the blue of the ocean that Caroline has never seen in real life and his lips and jawline make him look like he belongs in a Jane Austen adaptation.

Except his outfit makes him look like a H&M model.

He approaches her and she's not sure how to react, something Jenna obviously doesn't share because pads over and she rolls over onto her stomach, her paws in the air and he smirks, rubbing her belly with his boot quickly before crouching down in front of Caroline.

He reaches up to touch her face and she flinches, although she's not sure why and his hand stills, dropping back down to rest over his thigh,

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" he asks gently.

For a moment, Caroline can only stare at him dumbly, "You can talk," she finally manages, internally wincing at how stupid that sounded, but he only smiles,

"Last time you couldn't."

He glances down at the leaf covered ground with a smile, "Last time, I'd just become a man again after quite a few years," he explains,

"I could barely remember how to walk, it took a bit of practice to remember speech and anything complex."

He seems to think the situation is funny but she can't laugh.

"You were a wolf," she says, "And then you… _what_ are you?"

He clears his throat, "That's a long story…"

"Are you going to kill me?" she interrupts, her blood turning to ice as she trembles and his head shoots up, "Because I kind of know your secret?"

He shakes his head firmly, "Never," he swears, taking her hands and gripping them in his,

"Caroline, you were the first person to show me kindness in years, you gave me a home…"

"Oh my God!" she gasped, staring down at him in mortification, "You saw me naked!"

He frowns, "No, I didn't sweetheart, I always closed my eyes and I think you're in…"

"You were in the room when Bonnie, Elena and I were talking about masturbation." she blurts and he sighs as he rises,

"You're in shock, my love," he murmurs, lifting her to her feet and shrugging off his jacket, draping it over her frame, "Why don't we go back to my place, hmmm?"

Jenna picks up her leash between her teeth and begins dancing on the spot as he places his hand on her lower back, guiding her as she wraps her arms around herself, "I can't go to your place," she babbles, her eyes darting everywhere, "I don't even know your real name!"

He puts his hands, making sure he has her attention, "My name is Niklaus," he tells her,

"Niklaus Mikaelson."

* * *

His place turned out to be the newly built brick apartment building across the road from the Grill, and he keeps close to her as they climb the staircase, keeping his hands outstretched as if she's going to trip over her own feet.

"How did you get your own place so quickly?" she asks as he let her into the loft, her eyes scanning the furniture and appliances that all look so new, as if they'd just come from the store.

"You've been missing for at least five years, and I know the agent who lets this place and she does background checks so…"

"I have my ways," he told her and sat her down on the black leather couch, holding her there a moment as if he's worried she's going to faint.

"Now, would you prefer coffee, tea or bourbon?"

He refuses to answer anymore of her questions until he has placed the mug of coffee in her hand and she's sipping on it cautiously, panicking when she realizes that she hasn't seen Jenna in a while, but the puppy has climbed onto the back of an armchair and is looking out the window, watching the people below.

He sits on the coffee table so their knees are just touching and clasps his hands together,

"Now, sweetheart, should I explain everything or would you like me to answer your questions first?"

Caroline gives a little giggle and chokes on her coffee, "You sound British."

She looks down at her skirt and pulls off a piece of fluff, trying to order her mind but can't.

What should she ask? What did she need to know? What would be prying?

"What was that thing that attacked Bonnie?" she asks, her voice barely more than a mumble, and he blinks as if she's surprised him.

"It was a vampire."

And despite literally everything that had happened over the last few days, her first reaction is denial,

"Seriously?! Vampires aren't _real_!" she points out, shifting the mug to one hand so she can run the other through her hair,

"They're just…" she trails off and drinks the coffee and he seems to understand that she needs a moment so he falls silent too.

Caroline looks around the loft again, taking greater notice of the furnishings this time and sees the flat screen tv on the wall, but it wasn't plugged in or connected to anything.

"Do you not watch your shows anymore?" she asked, knowing that she was veering off topic and he looks over his shoulder to follow her gaze,

"I don't need to," he grins, "Now that I'm in human form it's a lot easier for me to obtain information."

She remembers how Balto had always watched the news and the history channel, but only when the programs were about the twentieth century, anything older and he would switch to something else.

And now, she thinks about all the horror movies he'd used to watch.

She'd used to think it was a little silly.

Now, it sends chills down her spine.

Five days ago, the wolf she'd kept as a pet for years had attacked a man, tried to kill him and then he'd turned into a human and snuck into her house to leave her a gift.

He had frightened her but a part of her had still trusted him, she hadn't even thought about it and then she had driven out to the Quarry and when he had saved her again, she had let him lead her to his apartment.

Where nobody knew where she was.

A little crease appears between his eyebrows, he's frowning slightly and looks as if he's trying to hear something but she's not making any sound.

She's looking at the door and trying to remember if he deadbolted it, they're six flights up and she wouldn't be able to outrun him down the stairs, and it's a Sunday but she doesn't know the residents of the building enough to know who would be home.

"Are you…afraid of me, Caroline?" he interrupts her train of thought and she knows that if she doesn't put the coffee down then she's going to spill it on the leather seats.

So, she clears her throat and leans over, setting it down beside him and noting that he doesn't have any coasters.

"Are vampires really real?" she asks and he nods, "And you're a... _werewolf_?"

Another nod.

"Were you always a wolf?" she continues and when she sees that he doesn't understand the question she elaborates, "I mean, when you were living with me?"

"A long time ago, I was cursed by a wicked witch," he tells her and she notes that he lisps some of his words,

"The evil hag and her underlings bound me in wolf form and cast me from my home. Unable to communicate with humans or even other wolves, and hunted for my pure white fur, I wandered alone until, one day, by sheer accident, I happened upon a young girl with a plastic container filled with fruit…"

He sounds like he's reciting some kind of fairy-tale but his smile seems genuine and Caroline can't resist matching it, her own lips curling up in response,

"I couldn't recall the last time I'd had fruit before you came back and fed it to me, along with that solidified sugar you called cake."

"Hey!" Caroline interjected, "That cake was delicious!"

He chuckles, "Perhaps, but I'm afraid it was the fruit that won my gratitude,"

"And your kindness," he adds, almost as an afterthought, reaching over and taking her hands, squeezing them gently,

"I had been alone for so long, Caroline and then, there you were offering so much for so little in return."

Her tongue darted out and wet her bottom lip, "You saved me from that bad guy, remember?"

"Selfishly," he answered, glancing down at his hands, "I didn't want to lose my new friend."

Her heart melts at that and she wonders how she could have been afraid of him, after all, if he was going to kill her he could have done it a million times when he was a wolf. Besides, he was so hot and spoke really well, so he probably wasn't a sociopath.

That wasn't to say she didn't have a ton more questions to ask him, as well as some digging to do- not that she's going to tell him that second bit.

"Are you going to stay in Mystic Falls?"

He is a bit taken aback at her question but nods, "I have nowhere else to be, no friends living or family."

She remembered asking Balto- or him- whether he'd had a pack.

Twisting in her seat, she scoops Jenna up, tucking her under her arm as she yawns, the adrenaline having worn off.

"I have to go."

He seems disappointed but stands up and steps back, leaving her plenty of room as he walks her to the door. She bites her lip and pauses before turning back to him,

"Vampires are really real?" she clarifies and he offers a comforting smile,

"I'm afraid so, sweetheart."

* * *

The next time she saw her wolf-turned human, barely twenty-four hours later, his shirt was splattered in shades of red.

Caroline reeled back on her heels and nearly dropped the coffee she was holding as he lunged forward.

Which was when she smelt the sharp tang and found herself in the strange situation of relaxing even as she lost her balance.

"I've got you," he promised, half out of his apartment as he held her left arm, steadying her but she still recoiled.

Some of the paint was still wet.

"Okay, are you redecorating and may I come in?" she asks, giving him a cautious look and he grinned,

"No to the first, always to the second." He responds, stepping back against the door to give her a wide-paint free berth as she walked into his loft,

"Art is one of my passions," he elaborates and gestures to the table which was a mess of paints and pictures, "I'm just getting back into the swing of things before using canvases again."

She looks at one of the pictures, intending to be polite and is taken aback,

"Wow, these are really good," she tells him, her eye catching one of a blood moon rising over a river, the sheer vibrancy of the colors and the detail drew her in.

"Although, none of them explain why you came to the door impersonating a serial killer."

He chuckles, ducking his head slightly and she has to glance away quickly because, _dammit_ , those dimples!

"I have to confess sweetheart, I didn't think to see you again so soon." He says as he closes the door and she reaches into her backpack, withdrawing the legal pad she'd swiped from the school stationery cabinet.

"Well, English was subbed by a useless guy who stuck on a video…so, I came up with my list of questions."

His eyes narrow at the pad doubtfully, "Those aren't indexed."

She shrugs defensively, "I didn't really have time…" she starts explaining before seeing his shoulders shake with humor,

"Okay, fine, be that way."

She pretends to get ready to walk out the door and he quickly blocks her path,

"Forgive me, sweetheart," he holds up his hands, "What can I do to acquit myself?"

She smacks the legal pad against his chest, "Start at the top."

As he begins reading, she walks to the window and takes out her phone.

Bonnie hadn't been in school today and Elena had been acting like she and Stefan were coming up on their first-year anniversary. She needed to talk to her best friend asap.

"Okay, well, to answer your first question, I prefer 'Klaus'," he answers as she looks over her shoulder,

"Uh huh, and your date of birth is…?"

He swallows, "Uh…you might want to sit down for that one."

* * *

Katherine was woken by the smell of blood.

It made her stomach tickle with hunger even though she had fed well the night before.

Stretching luxuriously on her black silk sheets, she rolls onto her back and inhales the heady mixture of fresh blood and new death.

The world outside is still relatively quiet, even as she stretches her senses, but there is light trying to sneak past her eyelids, so she figures that it must be just before dawn.

With a sigh, she opens her eyes.

Her gasp chokes her scream.

Mason Lockwood is hanging from her bedpost.

Or to be more accurate, his _corpse_ is.

A curtain sash was tied around his neck, forming a makeshift tourniquet that had slowed the exodus of his blood, reducing it to an unsteady drip that had woken her slowly.

His mouth hung open with his tongue stuck out and eyes were open and staring at her accusingly, as if to blame her for his death.

But she wasn't the one who had dealt that blow.

With a smothered scream of frustration, she kicks back the blankets and grabs the nearest outfit, the black chiffon sheath dress she'd worn last night. It covers so little that the dressing was more a symbolic act.

" _Elijah!_ " she shouted, her voice echoing through the chalet, " _Where_ are you?"

She hears the chime of a fork against a crystal glass and follows the sound to the American kitchen where Elijah Mikaelson stood by the stove top, an apron tied over his tailored shirt and pants.

"Good morning, Katerina," he greets cheerfully, "How would you like your omelette?"

There's a vase next to the entryway, an ugly piece with only its age as its saving grace.

With supernatural speed, she picks it up and sends it flying across the length of the room.

Unfortunately, Elijah is faster and manages to swing his arm with enough force that it doesn't break on him but hits the nearest wall, shattering violently.

"Darling _please_ ," he chides, "You might have got porcelain in the food."

"You ruined _everything_!" Katherine seethes, storming over, "I needed Mason for information."

He quirks an eyebrow, "You were using him for a lot more than intelligence gathering," he points out, reaching into the paper shopping bag he'd brought with him and taking out fresh chives which he lay on the chopping board, "I'm surprised exhaustion didn't kill him before I got the chance."

Katherine clenches her hands into fists, "Why are you even here, 'Lijah?"

He picks up a knife and chops the herbs with the skill of a well-trained chef,

"I simply wished to see my wife," he explains glibly, "Salt or no salt?"

She contemplates picking up the frying pan and braining him but her husband tended to be an asshole when his cooking was interrupted.

"If you wanted to see me, you could have written or even called." she points out, as he crushes a bit of rock salt between his thumb and forefinger, sprinkling it lightly over the omelette,

"Yes," he acknowledges, "But then you might have refused, or taken the opportunity of forewarning to run."

He looks up from his preparation and runs his eyes over her body, her breasts barely concealed from his gaze and down to the juncture of her thighs,

"And I have missed you."

She forces herself not to swallow as her body reacts to her husband's proximity and part of the icicle that was her centuries dead heart; melts the slightest bit.

* * *

 _In 1790, word of Niklaus Mikaelson's death had shaken the supernatural world._

 _Rumors had run rampant, that a coven of witches in New Orleans had achieved what countless others had failed to do. Working in conjunction with Mikael- who had given his own life to see this through- they had killed him._

 _Katherine had waited one year after first hearing about this before she made her way to the Americas. She had entered Louisiana very cautiously, still concerned that it was all some foolish mistake or misunderstanding._

 _She was barely off the ship before Elijah found her, her luggage still being delivered to her hotel._

 _The hotel she had never reached._

 _Instead, she found had herself being escorted by his footman to his carriage, where he had been waiting, still adorned in a mourning garb of stark black._

 _At the manor on Bourbon St, she had slowly peeled away those garments before shedding her own pea green dress, letting the priceless pieces fall to the floor before he grabbed her around the waist and carried her to his bed._

 _She had straddled his waist as he had rediscovered life outside of grief in the taste of her skin, the sound of her pleasure and the touch of her lips._

 _For a while they had been happy. As happy as they could be with Elijah mourning his beloved brother's death. Katherine had quietly slipped into life at the manor, Rebekah noting her arrival with raised eyebrows and thinned lips but otherwise, not saying a word for several months._

 _Kol was un-daggered and celebrated Klaus' death in poor taste, even by Katherine's standards, believing that now his half-brother was gone, never again would he see the inside of a coffin._

 _He'd been wrong about that._

 _Elijah had assumed his rightful place as head of the family, acquiring not only the position and subsequent power, but the silver daggers coated in white ash._

 _He'd used them too when Kol had crossed a line._

 _And the night Rebekah had argued for her brother's release, pointing out that Klaus' excessive use of these weapons was what had made them all glad for his death, Katherine had anticipated that the female Mikaelson would shortly be taking an unplanned sabbatical from the world._

 _Except, Elijah hadn't been that merciful._

 _With only the barely required number of words necessary to get his point across, he had explained to her that with Niklaus gone, they were no longer able to hide from the truth staring them in the face._

 _They were no less monsters than he had been._

 _For all their chivalry and passionate love, they were no better than he, the only difference was their brother had never pretended to be anything other than what he was, he hadn't suffered the self-delusion they had practiced every single day._

 _Rebekah had refused to accept the truth, while Katherine already began planning her escape._

 _But the more Elijah discovered his true nature, the tighter he clung to the one part of his humanity that still lingered in his tattered soul._

 _They were married in a grandiose ceremony that saw half of New Orleans at the celebration and Katherine used the dancing as an opportunity to slip away into the night._

 _She managed to run for five years before he found her and taken her back to New Orleans._

 _He'd kept a close eye on her but otherwise avoided her, taking a mistress by the name of Celeste, until the poor woman was inexplicably drowned as a witch._

 _Another bout of grief made him even crueler and Katherine ran again, finding pleasure in the arms of others, but not allowing herself to fall for them lest Elijah decided to turn murderous in his jealousy._

 _The poor Salvatore brothers had barely escaped his notice and that had only been because Katherine had allowed herself to be discovered by him as she was fleeing town._

 _Their passionate reunion had taken place barely a mile from where the church was burning as the curse failed and the escaped vampires fled into the night._

 _"I do love you," Katherine had gasped as they'd lain in the cotton field, her hair and back gathering dust as her husband moved above her, "Even now."_

 _The sun was just beginning to rise when he was finally sated and the slaves were beginning to move in their quarters. He'd climbed to his feet, righted his clothes and then tried to do the same with hers,_

 _"If you promise to come home to me in the end, I will stop chasing you every time you leave."_

* * *

And that had been their arrangement for the last century or so.

Except when she had been gone too long for Elijah's liking, then he sought her out.

Like today.

"Mason Lockwood was from Mystic Falls," she told him as he plated up their breakfast, carrying it to the dining table, "His family had something I've wanted for a while."

"Oh?" he made a sound of vague interest as he poured the coffee, "Was it a pair of knickers perhaps?"

Katherine glances down and realizes that the morning sun blazing through the windows made her sheath even more transparent than she'd thought.

"I can put something on if you like?" she challenged, sashaying over to the table and helping herself to his coffee, "I think there's a pair of pants around here somewhere."

He chuckled in amusement, "Later."

Turning around so that he was sitting sideways on his chair and facing her, he reached out, cupping her hips with his hands to draw her closer before lifting the sheath up to expose her vagina. With his eyelids fluttering closed, he kisses the bare skin just above the curls, "I have missed you, Ekaterina."

Lovingly, she runs her fingers through his hair, biting her lip in pleasure as his kisses delved lower.

She supposed she hadn't really needed Mason after all.

She knew the moonstone was in Mystic Falls, surely she and Elijah could find it themselves?

* * *

A/N- There you go.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N- Here we go.

* * *

"Vampires are real! Like, seriously real…werewolves too." Caroline blurted out as the front door opened.

"I know," Bonnie responded, sighing as if to drive all the air from her lungs, "And so are witches."

Figuring that having conversations about the supernatural on the doorstep was probably what had got at least one or two of her ancestors burnt at the stake, Bonnie opens the door wider and Caroline strides in, her hands waving.

"I mean, this is _insane!_ " she announces, her handbag swinging as she rushes past her into the living room,

"Like, a week ago, everything was fine and now…wait…" Caroline spins to face her, as she followed in her tracks, "How do you know that witches are real?"

She clears her throat and tucks her hair behind her ears, "Uh…you better sit down."

Caroline eyes go wide, "Seriously?!" she screeches, "You're a witch?"

"A little louder child," Grams drawled as she walked past, "I'm not sure the Inquisition heard you."

Caroline winced, "Sorry, Grams."

She waits until she's gone into the kitchen before pointing at her, "Is she a witch too?" she mouths silently, jumping nearly a foot in the air when Grams calls 'Yes' from behind the wall.

"Apparently, it's a family trait," Bonnie said, shrugging as they sat down on the couch,

"Dark skin, nice hair, the ability to magic."

She wonders if she should do the feather trick she'd been practicing ever since Grams had shown her how to do it, but Caroline doesn't seem to be doubting her, instead she reaches into her handbag and grabs out a legal pad, starting to fire off questions,

"Do you have a wand?" she asks, "Can you fly? Can you turn people into toads? Is this why that vampire guy tried to attack you?"

Bonnie felt herself becoming overwhelmed, "Uh…Grams can answer the first three but I don't think so, not yet anyway, but if I can turn anyone into a toad, I will let you know…" she pauses and plays with the skin of her nails,

"I'm thinking the vampire came after me because I was alone," she told her, "And he tried this thing on me called compulsion but it didn't work because…"

"Witches can't be compelled," Caroline finishes for her, nodding, "Klaus told me."

Bonnie frowns, "Okay…who is Klaus?"

Caroline puts her legal pad down, "Grams didn't tell you?"

She shakes her head and her friend inhales deeply, "Okay, this is kinda strange, but you know how you always thought Balto was weird?"

Bonnie doesn't see where she's going with this but nods, "And?"

"It's because he was really a guy trapped in wolf form, whose name is Klaus and he's also a vampire when he's not a werewolf."

And, in spite of everything she'd learnt over the last three days, Bonnie still finds herself wondering if Caroline hasn't maybe gone crazy.

Grams comes into the room holding three cups of tea which she places down on the coffee table,

"So, he told you everything?" she asks, Caroline, who gives her a nervous smile,

"I think so," she answers, "He kept insisting on taking breaks to make sure I wasn't going into shock." She sips at the tea and makes a face, which makes Bonnie lift hers to her nose and sniff.

Vervein.

"Anyway," Caroline continues, "He said that you could confirm any thing I wanted to double-check."

From her position on the couch, Bonnie can see Grams throat and jaw, and sees that her grandmother is biting her tongue, "Of course, child," she assures her,

"But we will have to keep this a secret, no-one can know about Bonnie or myself, it doesn't matter how long we've been a part of this community, they could still choose to burn us both."

Caroline pales, "I won't tell anyone," she swears, holding up two fingers, "Scouts honor."

She leaves twenty minutes later, after giving Bonnie a rundown of what she'd missed in school that day, not that she'd been sick but she'd figured that finding out she was a witch deserved a three-day weekend to process.

She walks Caroline to the door and watches her drive off, waiting until her car has turned the corner before closing the door and going looking for her Grams.

She finds her in the study, sitting over a table filled with vervein and a necklace, muttering to herself as she sorted through the flowers.

"Grams?" Bonnie called softly, leaning against the door, "Is everything okay?"

Her grandmother hums and for a moment, she thinks that she's going to reassure her, tell her that everything was fine and that she was being silly but when she looks up, she sees concern in her eyes.

"I don't know," she answers, honestly, "Klaus Mikaelson, is old, an ancient creature who is very powerful and very dangerous, and danger attracts danger."

Bonnie swallows nervously, "Do you think he'll hurt Caroline?"

Grams taps a finger to her chin, "Honestly, child, I think she will be the safest person in town."

* * *

Richard Lockwood was sitting in his office, staring at his desk and barely resisting the urge to snap at his wife as she blathered on about preparations for the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

As if he gave half a damn about the stupid event, or really, any event that took place at his manor that wasn't directly related to his mayoral campaign.

He figured she would have known that by now, but no, she wanted to talk his ear off about how stressful it was trying to find the perfect judges and how the perfect girls to help with organization and set-up were all finalists and thus couldn't help.

If she didn't shut up soon, his sanity and will to live would go right out the window.

He tries to distract himself by thinking about the red head he'd met on the weekend in Richmond and taken back to his hotel room. He tries thinking about her hazel eyes and foreign accent- which meant that he would never see her again- however, he's too stressed to lose himself in the flashback.

This morning he had delved into the Mystic Falls Civil War records and found confirmation of what he'd suspected for weeks now.

The Salvatore brothers that had arrived in Mystic Falls, were the same ones that had fled it in 1864.

Vampires had returned to the town.

And the undead were like cockroaches, there was never just one but a nest of them hidden somewhere.

Except that he didn't want to raise his concerns with the Council yet, because John Gilbert was on his way back to town soon and that meant the damn compass and other paraphernalia that the Lockwood journals warned didn't just track vampires but all supernatural creatures.

And his family had kept their secret for too long just to be discovered by a lowly Gilbert.

Which was the reason Grayson's break lines had been damaged after one of Carol's many irritating Founding Family events.

Fortunately, the idiot had driven off Wickery Bridge and drowned before he'd died in a fiery crash, so at least Richard didn't have to worry about a murder investigation on top of everything else.

Shame about Miranda though.

She'd aged _really_ well.

Better than Carol certainly.

Who is now turning her head and shutting up and Richard thinks it must be a miracle but he hears clomping up the stairs and figures Tyler was home from football practice.

"Oh, darling," Carol gushes, "What happened?"

Tyler slouches into the office and Richard sees that he's sporting a real shiner on his left eye.

"Son?" he demands, "How does the other guy look?"

So help him if the answer wasn't 'worse'

"Unconscious," Tyler smirked, "But it's fine, I won't get in trouble."

Carol fusses over him like he's still a little boy and Richard smacks his hand on the desk,

"He's fine for godsake," he snaps, "Stop coddling him!"

If he wasn't careful, Carol would turn their boy pansy.

And then he'd never trigger the curse.

He tells Tyler to go shower and hopes that Carol will go find something else to distract herself until it was a decent time to start drinking and he's relieved when she follows their son to the door.

But then she lingers.

"You know," she sighed, "I was hoping now that Elena was single, he'd date her, or at least a good girl like Caroline Forbes and clean up his act a little."

He hums noncommittally as she checks her watch and finally heads downstairs to pour herself a drink.

Caroline Forbes.

Perky little blonde but there was definitely something weird about her.

His current thinking was that perhaps she was a throwback, one of those werewolves where the curse passed unbroken for a few generations and had weakened to the point where there was no latent aggression to trigger it.

Shame.

She was a pretty little thing and would make a hell of a werewolf.

And it would explain why that wolf had stuck by her side all those years, because Richard had fed that creature a sausage soaked in wolfsbane and it had nearly swallowed it whole and then whined for more.

So clearly it was just a regular wolf that had befriended a human, like that lion from London.

But this was a good thing.

He already had enough supernatural creatures running around Mystic Falls.

Albeit one less than he wanted.

Mason was supposed to have called him by now.

Stupid little brothers.

Why did he have to do everything himself?!

* * *

Sage fixed a smile on her face as she made her way to the garden mezzanine in her luxury apartment building.

Her nose picks up on a sweet scent and her smile becomes genuine as she finds the object of her affection watching the sunrise.

Finn Mikaelson was sitting on a bench, his face turned up to the sky and an almost comically large mug cupped in his hands, filled to the brim with hot chocolate made in the Central European fashion, which was simply melted chocolate poured out and drunk quickly before it could solidify.

It had been the first thing he'd consumed when setting foot in Prague and it had been in that café that Sage had laid eyes on him for the first time in centuries.

At first, she had been convinced she had lost her mind but then he had explained the matter to her.

His little brother was dead and Elijah had freed him from his coffin.

However, Finn had no faith in his siblings and had chosen to flee rather than rely on their good will to keep him safe from the silver dagger.

Over time, he had relented slightly and agreed to sojourning on the same continent as his siblings, however, the marks of his centuries encased in his coffin had left their mark.

Sage wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the crown of his head, "Good morning."

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, "Morning, my love, did I wake you?"

No and waking up to find only natural light in their bedroom had alarmed her.

Finn could not stand darkness anymore, their homes always had to be blazing with light or else his mind would go back to the imprisonment of his active mind but trapped body in which he had spent so long.

What none of his siblings had realized was that while being daggered for decades felt as though one were sleeping, being daggered for centuries did not carry the same mercy.

Finn had regained awareness of the mind but had been unable to move. It had driven him insane and then sane again in an endless cycle that Hell itself could not have made worse.

And that none of his siblings expressed remorse or sympathy for his having suffered hadn't helped matters.

In fact, they only ever contacted him if they wanted something.

Like, now for instance.

They're interrupted by a shrill ringing from the landline they kept in the kitchen and she sighs, already knowing that only certain people were rude enough to call this early in the morning and they were all called Mikaelson.

She hoped this interruption was caused by Elijah at least, he was always very succinct and to the point…

" _Finally_ ," the caller snaps before she's even finished putting the phone to her ear,

" _You have supernatural speed, how on earth does it take you thirty seconds to reach the bloody kitchen?_ "

Rebekah Mikaelson.

"I was busy," Sage answers, wishing she could one day be safe enough to tell the spoilt, demanding blonde exactly what she thought of her, "How can I help you?"

" _It's Kol,_ " she huffs and Sage has to consciously force herself not to slam the phone back on its hook,

" _He fell in with some dodgy witches in the Quarter and, from what I could ascertain, is after a moonstone._ "

"Alright," Sage acknowledges, "And what does this have to do with Finn and myself?"

" _Well,_ " Rebekah sighs, " _Obviously, whatever they want the moonstone for, we have to stop them from getting it_."

 _We_.

When did the Mikaelson's become a family unit again?

Sage wishes she could make up some excuse about not being around but Richmond was hardly Bratislava.

"Why don't you ask Elijah?" Sage suggested and there's a long pause at the other end of the line,

" _He's busy tracking down the harlot_."

Katherine Pierce.

Apt description.

"We'll see what we can do," she offers, deliberately keeping her answer vague.

Rebekah scoffs, " _I knew you'd say that, but we have reason to believe that the moonstone is in Mystic Falls, and you were on the way…_ "

On the way to…

The doorbell rings and Sage's heart plummets.

Not even seven am and the day was already ruined.

* * *

Jenna is yapping at the door as Caroline slides the key into the lock and when she steps inside, the puppy dances around her feet, jumping up and down until she squats into a crouch to pat her on the head.

"Hey," she laughs as her puppy accidentally headbutts her jaw, "Oof, did you miss me today?"

Jenna topples over, landing on her back and kicking her feet in the air before rolling over, getting upright and racing to her bedroom, leaving Caroline to follow at a much more leisurely pace.

Her bedroom almost looked the same as it had when she'd left it this morning.

If she ignored the long white box tied up with silver ribbon sitting on her bed.

Surprised, she picks up the card slid underneath the bow,

 _'For the future Miss Mystic Falls'_

She snorts and unties the ribbon, letting it fall to the floor where Jenna pounced on it immediately, and lifts the lid.

A beautiful green dress was inside, the exact shade that Caroline had decided upon last year when she had begun plotting how she would win the beauty pageant.

And Balto had been in the room at the time.

She pulls out her phone and scrolls down for Klaus' name- he'd bought a phone over the weekend but thankfully hadn't discovered Angry Birds yet- and taps out the message.

 _Caroline: Thank-you for the beautiful dress, but how did you get into my room?_

She sinks down onto the bed and waits for his reply,

 _Klaus: Good Afternoon Caroline, your mother's spare key remains in the same place it has always done_

 _Klaus: And why does Jenna get to sleep on the bed?_

Caroline laughed, remembering Balto's outrage all the times she pushed him down when he tried to climb onto her bed.

 _Caroline: Because she isn't a huge wolf._

 _Klaus: That's discrimination love_

She laughs again and reaches down, putting her hand under Jenna's stomach and scooping her up onto the bed, positioning her near her pillows when she starts padding curiously towards the box. She whistles and takes advantage of the puppy looking at her to take a photo.

 _Caroline: [image]_

She takes the dress out of the box and hangs it up carefully, making sure it drapes correctly before turning back to her phone.

 _Klaus: Utterly unfair_

She giggles again and finds herself suddenly wishing that he was the one escorting her to the pageant rather than Jeffrey, whom she'd only chosen because Matt had to work.

But it was too late now, he wouldn't know the dance and would probably think he was only a backup.

Still, she'd invite him anyway and maybe they could do something afterwards?

* * *

Damon scowled as he hurled the book across the parlor, straight into the fireplace.

Unfortunately, he hadn't lit the fire yet but the sound of the spine snapping was cathartic.

Besides, it wasn't a useful book, just the journaling of an old ancestor of his, batty even on his best day and down-right crazy when he started mentioning anything useful.

Like the moonstone.

Which his source in New York told him that Katherine Pierce was after.

Magic moonstones were rare and not interchangeable, if you used one for a spell previously, another one couldn't undo that spell. As far as anyone knew, there was currently only six worldwide.

One in London, protected by a witch coven who ate vampires.

One somewhere in Africa.

Three lost or hidden for a century minimum and one that was in Mystic Falls.

Only, Damon didn't know where or which Founding Family currently had it in their collection of creepy antiques.

And without it, he could bring his nefarious plan to fruition.

Especially with that stupidly strong vampire that had come to town and was currently seducing the Sheriff's daughter out of her cheerleading uniform.

Not only was the guy stronger than any vampire Damon had ever seen, but if the sudden upsurge in scarf-wearers around the town was anything to go by, he was a live feeder as well.

Which meant the Council was only one wake-up call away from verveining the water supply and getting a hunting party together.

He leans back in the chair with a groan.

He'd forgotten how much he hated Mystic Falls.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N- There is no action this chapter I'm afraid.

* * *

It was a beautiful spring day.

And that mattered, _right_?

Not only did Caroline know that it would be an absolute pain to have to relocate the Miss Mystic Court from the Lockwood lawn to their tiny ballroom, but also, her hair would look great in sunlight.

Blondes looked better than brunettes in the sun, right?

She stops by her bedroom door and nearly pulls her phone out of her pocket to text Klaus and ask him but figures at the last moment to give him a break.

Because now that Bonnie was a witch and Elena was the competition, Klaus had spent the last week as Caroline's sounding board for Miss Mystic Falls.

And he had been helpful, listening to her and giving as much advice as he could being only a guy.

It did kinda suck that he hadn't turned back into a human earlier, then he could be her escort today instead of Jeffrey.

But at least he was going to be there.

* * *

Of course, Caroline was the first contestant there, on time, unlike nearly everyone else.

"Oh Caroline," Carol calls as she hurries down the stairs, "It's such a shame you can't help out this year."

Caroline beamed, "Next year," she promised, side-stepping as a caterer barreled past her, and hooked her garment bag over her shoulder, "I should go get ready."

Each year, the Lockwood's graciously let the girl use their guest rooms to change and do their make-up and Caroline had planned to get there before anyone so she could grab the best spot, with the mirror by the window so she had the most natural light.

And it was a shame that nobody had bothered to tell the Lockwood's that the overhead light had been out since last year which meant the contestants furthest from the window would be applying their make-up in shadow.

 _Whoops_.

Caroline sets up her hair straightener and hangs up her dress, checking one last time for wrinkles.

She'd tried it on last night and her mom had even caught a glimpse of her as she was on her way out to work.

And she was working again today, but Caroline had promised to take a lot of photos.

And, she was planning on taking home the tiara.

With a grin, she arranges her hair into loose curls and is already applying the make-up when the other girls finally start arriving, Amber Bradley looking nervous, Elena looking like being there was a chore and Tina Fell looking bitchy.

She's wondering where Blair Fell- last years' winner and somehow a contestant again this year- is when her phone buzzes and she sees a text from Klaus.

With a smile and a vague lie about going to check out the crowd, Caroline slips from the room and heads to the railing, looking down and seeing him at the front door, grinning charmingly to Carol Lockwood before slowly stepping over the threshold.

At which point, he practically ditched her and raised his head, smiling at Caroline before climbing up the stairs,

"You look lovely already, sweetheart," he murmurs as greeting and she rolls her eyes,

"I don't even have my dress on yet."

She has a momentary panic about having left her dress in the room and vulnerable to sabotage but she remembered that two years ago, a rule had been introduced immediately excluding all girls who were in the room when a fellow contestants outfit was damaged.

He takes her arm and leads her away from the railing, against the wall and she blushes a little when her pink dressing gown flutters around her ankles and she remembered that she only had her underwear on underneath,

"Caroline," Klaus begins, placing a hand on her arm, his thumb rubbing the skin gently, "Have you heard anything about a Council in Mystic Falls?"

She blinks, "Yeah, it's made up of Founding Families, handles all the charity events, run by the Mayor and stuff like that, why?"

He turns his face away, "I think they might be doing more than that," he answers, "I tried to take a shower this morning and discovered that there was vervein in the water."

Caroline waits for him to continue but he doesn't so she shrugs, "Okay, _so?_ "

He smirks, "Well, for one thing, it means I can't compel the judges to award you the tiara."

Klaus then chuckles as she whacks his arm and chest repeatedly, " _Seriously?!_ " she hisses,

"No, I am not going to cheat, I'm going to win this fair and square."

"Oh, I know you are, love," he laughs, barely dodging her blows, "Because the only other option is now off the table."

She whacks him again for good measure but then crosses her arms,

"Well, I mean…if you want to help, you could bring up some cocktails to us? Tina Fell is a complete klutz when she's drunk and hasn't slowed down any since her DUI. Elena won't drink until this is over, but maybe Blair Fell could be overconfident enough…" she trails off and he slips her arms free so he can hold her hands between his,

"You've got this Caroline," he assures her, "Remember what you told me? Amber Bradley is only here because the Founding Families wanted to look inclusive, Tina is a walking disaster and Blair only got nominated because Carol owed her for some volunteer work, your only competition is Elena and the dead-parents sympathy vote."

Caroline smiles, touched that he had actually been listening when she'd ranted to him about this,

"How do you manage to listen to me when I talk all the time, especially about girly stuff like this?"

Klaus leans back slightly, with a tiny furrow appearing on his brow before he reaches over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, looking directly into her eyes.

"Well, if someone had told me before I became a wolf on an unfortunately permanent basis for a good many years, that I would one day be invested in the outcome of a beauty pageant I would have assumed that I had drunkenly wandered into an asylum and was conversing with one of the inmates." He pauses as she giggles and joins in,

"However, what is important to you is important to _me_ , Caroline."

She isn't sure how she's about to respond, only that she's suddenly hyper-aware that his lips are really close and that she wouldn't have to move much at all to kiss him.

Except she catches a glimpse of someone over his shoulder and steps back, jerking her chin to let him know that they're not alone.

He twists his head to follow her gaze and sees Damon Salvatore standing there.

"Hi!" he calls in an arrogant tone, "Sorry to break-up the love fest, but I was hoping to talk to you."

Klaus does not look like he wants to talk to this guy at all, but Caroline takes his wrist, turning it to check the time on his watch, "I have to go get dressed anyway," she excuses, "I'll see you after the dance."

He nods, looking away from Damon to smile at her, "You'll be brilliant, sweetheart."

When Caroline walks back into the changing room, she nearly collides with Elena, "Who is that?" her friend asks and for a moment, Caroline thinks she means Stefan's older brother.

"Oh, that's my friend, Klaus."

* * *

Damon Salvatore was definitely not afraid of this short background figure who'd fallen from Renaissance portrait.

That said, he did have a healthy respect for him.

He leads him downstairs to where there was enough people that he couldn't kill him without making a scene and more importantly- where the open bar was.

The blonde guy joins him at the bar and orders bourbon before turning to him,

"You know," he begins and Damon notes that he'd been right about the British accent, "The last time we interacted, when I threatened to kill you? Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, but that was not a one-off, it's going to be an open threat to be carried out whenever it pleases me."

Damon scowled, "Great, then let's make this quick, if you turned on the taps in your fancy apartment this morning you might have noticed your skin blistering right off your bones…"

"Yes," he interjects, "They've thrown vervein in the water supply, quite clever of them."

"Yeah," Damon agrees sarcastically, "It's just swell that the Council is hunting vampires again, because the last time they did it, an entire tomb full of them got trapped underground."

He sighs and looks up, as if he could see through the ceiling and right up the dresses of the pageant girls, "I assume there's a point?"

"The reason they're looking for vampires is because of the bodies savaged in the woods," Damon explains, "Now, Stefan and I aren't the ones killing them, and it doesn't look like the regular vamp kill so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt…"

"Glad to hear it." he grins and begins meandering away, forcing Damon to follow him this time as the guests begin moving to the staircase for the presentation of the girls,

"Hey," he hisses, "In case you haven't realized, vampire hunting is the only thing in this town that's equal opportunity for all, they might stake Founding Family members first, but they'll come after you as well."

He snickers, "That would be a sight to see."

This was a lost cause and a waste of time.

With a snarl of irritation, Damon stomps away, determined that if nothing else, he can salvage his day by seeing Elena when she walks down the stairs and pretend that she's walking towards him and not his brother.

That he can't see anywhere.

Huh.

* * *

If she were being honest with herself, which Caroline Forbes always tries to be, she had picked Jeffrey Hamilton Lockwood firstly for his name and then for his looks.

She'd figured Carol would appreciate having a Lockwood squire one of the girls and nobody had been interested in asking Tyler since his new hobby seemed to be picking fights with people.

And Jeffrey might not have much personality or charm, he definitely didn't have a British accent and a little lisp which was both really cute and somehow prevented him from being too perfect, but he did have decent co-ordination and a sense of responsibility.

Which was why he was a much better dancer than Blair or Tina's dates who'd skipped out on two of the lessons and had been high for the last one.

So, yes, Caroline might be the one leading but that's only because she knows which path to take so that all the judges see her and…

She nearly steps on Jeffrey's foot when she sees Elena dancing with a guy with dark hair instead of brown.

Was that Damon?

Where was Stefan?!

 _Focus_.

She gives her head a little shake and then widens her smile, pretending that she was just here for the fun, not to win. When the music ends, she slips her hand into Jeffrey's to be escorted inside and back up the stairs, she sees Klaus who raises his glass to her in a toast and beams at him before even seeing her mother making her way down the hall.

Well, she was seeing her in her dress at least.

Blair and Tina are first back in the room and Caroline notices that the tray of drinks Klaus had sent up had been drained, without her, Amber or Elena ever touching them.

Although, Amber must have drunk or eaten something weird because she had completely disappeared, legit _bailed_ on the dance.

Elena reappears only long enough to grab her phone and duck out again, muttering something about looking for Stefan.

"Probably at the open bar," Blair says, in a bitchy tone, "Who'd pick Elena Gilbert or any other sophomore over a beer?"

Caroline glares at her, "Actually, I heard he got food poisoning from the Grill, must be the new cook."

Blair and Tina both narrow their eyes at her, the new cook being their- recently released from juvie- cousin.

There's a knock on the door and Tina's dad comes into the room, striding across to pull his daughter into a hug, murmuring about how proud he was and Caroline looks away, her eyes beginning to sting a little with allergies when she sees Klaus hovering in the hallway.

"Come in." she whispers under her breath and he leans against the doorjamb, knocking with two fingers,

"Everyone decent?" he asks and she pretends like she's just noticing he was there,

"Hey," she says, smiling as she crosses the room, "So great to see you, let's go for a walk."

She moves just slowly enough for Blair and Tina to get a good look at him and then closes the door behind them, "Do you know what happened to Stefan?"

Klaus shakes his head, "No, but Damon Salvatore has gone looking for him, so I'm sure he'll be fine and I overheard the judges talking, it turns out that the registered escort has to be the one to dance with you, otherwise you're disqualified."

Caroline stared at him in disbelief before squealing and clapping her hands,

"I mean…it's simply terrible for _poor_ Elena," she sighed, fighting her smile and putting a hand to her chest, "But she was my only _real_ competition."

He chuckled, about to respond when Caroline hears her name and looks over the railing to see her mom standing on the stairs,

"Hi!" she chirped, waving her hand and grimacing as Klaus muttered some excuse and swept backwards, barely making it along the hall before being grabbed by Mrs. Flowers.

"Who was that sweetie?" Liz asks, coming up the stairs and Caroline has a moment when she nearly answers, 'Balto' before remembering that she probably shouldn't go around telling people her wolf had turned into a human,

"Oh, that's Klaus," she responded, "He's new to town."

Liz glances over her shoulder and hums in a disapproving tone, "He's not in high school."

"Nope," Caroline flips her hair over her shoulder, "He's about to be a freshman at Whitmore."

She waits impatiently and finally her mom notices her, "You look beautiful, sweetie, and I saw a bit of your dancing, I'm sure you'll do great."

Caroline blinks three times in quick succession but lets it slide, "Thanks, mom."

Liz nods, "Have you seen Richard?" she asks, "I need to speak to him about something."

 _Oh_.

That was why she was here.

Caroline shrugs, "Nope, but try his office."

She spins on her heel and heads downstairs, the pageant was over until the announcement anyway, she might as well go hang with Bonnie.

The crowd is busier now that the dance is over and the bar is still open, Caroline's stomach rumbles but she doubts there'll be any food she can eat safely.

But if she won, she was going to celebrate with pizza.

Just, not from the Grill, she hadn't been lying about the Fell cousin being a bad cook.

She sees Elena's uncle John looking completely miserable and gives him a wide berth, nearly colliding with Jeremy in the process.

"Hi, Jer," she smiles, squeezing his shoulder, "How are you?"

Jeremy had been a little depressed after 'Balto' had 'disappeared', used to him hanging in the stoners corner during the school day.

He manages a grin but he doesn't look happy to see her, "Hey Caroline, um…I'm good."

There's a sulky girl pouting next to him and Caroline wonders if she's cockblocking, but the girl gives off a really whiny vibe and that just doesn't seem worth it.

Still, she decides to let Jeremy make his own mistakes, especially because she thinks she sees Bonnie and heads over, thinking to gossip only to find her friend totally distracted and running off the moment her back is turned.

 _Seriously?!_

What was with everyone today.

Jeffrey finds her and he's a little tipsy now but still standing at least, unlike the other founding family escorts who were getting pretty drunk considering the open bar should at least be trying to card the high school kids.

"You know," Jeffrey says, putting a hand on the wall and leaning into her, "You look really sexy in that dress."

Wow.

"Thanks," she mutters without enthusiasm, wondering where Klaus had wandered off to.

"You know, I nearly asked you out last term," he continues, nodding as if she should question that.

"I was gonna take you to the seniors dance…" he trails off, expecting her to respond but apparently forgetting that Caroline had been at that dance because she had been the one organizing it.

"Yeah," he sighs, "Except, you know, that big dog of yours…"

"Wolf," Caroline interrupts, automatically, trying not to be rude.

"Right…" Jeffrey snickers, looking at her patronizingly, " _Wolf_."

He holds up his hands, one still holding a drink and tries to make air-quotes, causing some of the beer to spill on his wrist,

"You know, he didn't like me very much, amirite?"

Probably.

Caroline had always trusted Balto's reaction to boys who'd asked her out on dates.

And now that she knew he'd been a man all along, she trusted his decision even more.

"Sorry about that." She sighs, hearing Carol's voice as she asked for the pageant contestants to come outside. She goes to duck under his arm but Jeffrey lowers it to stop her,

"You know, he's dead now, so…wanna hang out later?"

Caroline clears her throat, "Sorry…I'm busy, and he's alive, but thanks for escorting me today."

He frowns, as if not having heard her properly and she takes the opportunity to get away, making it three steps before hearing him hiss at her.

 _"Bitch._ "

Her eyes go wide and her cheeks flush with embarrassment but before she can react, she hears another voice, "Careful, mate, she has a nasty right hook."

She straightens her shoulders and tucks her hair behind her shoulder, throwing a grateful glance to Klaus before joining Tina, Blair and Elena on the stage.

She hated that she'd frozen up after being insulted and she hated that Elena and Bonnie looked nervous and that her mom was standing in the crowd but talking to Richard the entire time and…

"…This year's winner is Caroline Forbes."

Everyone was applauding and Caroline beamed as she felt Carol gently placing the tiara on her head.

She looks into the crowd and sees Klaus clapping slowly, not looking the least bit surprised and suddenly, she finds herself wondering what would happen if she kissed him.

* * *

Whilst Caroline was being crowned, Amber Bradley was running for her life through the woods, screaming as Stefan chased her, high on the blood-rush and completely unaware that he was being watched from a distance by Anna.

* * *

A/N- Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12 8th May

A/N- This isn't properly formatted thanks to the site cocking up so royally that I got sick of reposting this chapter and gave up.

* * *

"Are you going to take that off, sweetheart?"

Caroline turned at the sound of Klaus' voice and grinned cheekily, "Are you talking about my tiara or my dress?"

He chuckles, looking away and her heart thrills at how cute he is, "I should not answer that," he declares and moves into the room, "Especially when Bonnie Bennett is waiting downstairs to take you for celebratory ice-cream sundaes."

Yum.

Except that Caroline can't wear the tiara to an ice-cream parlour, that would just be sad. So, she reaches into her hair to try and pull the headpiece out, only to find that Carol had really dug it in there.

"Sit down," Klaus instructs her, putting his hands gently on her shoulders so he could guide her to a chair and get a better view of the tiara, trying to lift it from her hair.

"Bloody hell," he comments, as she winces at the hair pulling, her golden strands tangled up around the silver and diamantes.

"How do they get this off every year, decapitation?"

"Only if you don't live up to the Mystic Falls standards of what a lady should be." She jokes and he grimaces, "Right, well, are you opposed to head shaving?"

She squeals and grabs her hair protectively, making him laugh as he holds the tiara in his hand, freed from her hair and she stands back up, turning around to face him,

"How?" she asks, bewildered and he grins, "Supernatural skill," he quips, "Who cares for speed, or strength or agelessness when I can save a beautiful woman's hair?"

She giggles and holds out her hand, receiving the tiara and placing it on the vanity table just as a knock came at the door,

"Caroline?" Carol Lockwood made her way into the room, "Oh good, dear, I was just making sure you knew not to take the tiara home with you, we wouldn't want it getting lost like it did last year."

Actually, it had been driven to Richmond and pawned by Tina Fell who'd used the money to pay her phone bill.

Still, Caroline steps aside so Mrs Lockwood can pick it up before turning to Klaus and running her eyes over every inch of him, "You know, we haven't properly met," she begins, holding out her hand which he took and kissed quickly, making Mrs Lockwood beam and Caroline contemplate breaking the tiara. "Would you care to join me for a drink?"

Klaus releases her hand, "Sorry, I'm afraid I have plans," He turns to her, "Shall we, love?"

"Oh, Caroline," Mrs Lockwood has a grip on her arm that's actually a little painful, "Jeffrey is waiting for you downstairs to drive you home."

"Not when he's that smashed he isn't." Klaus counters before Caroline could say anything, and she gives him a pointed look to which he nods, "I'm definitely not comfortable going home with Jeffrey when he's really drunk," she tells the older lady who is looking at Klaus like she wants to snatch him up. "I'm heading out with Bonnie." She elaborates and turns to Klaus with an apologetic glance but he is only grinning at Mrs Lockwood, "Lovely meeting you." He says quickly, before sweeping Caroline out of the room.

"Right," he growls as they clatter down the stairs, "Everyone for themselves, I'll throw you to Bonnie and then run like the wind."

She laughs and when they reach the ground floor, he takes her hand and spins her, sending her straight into Bonnie's arms and the two of them stumble together as Caroline hugs her tight.

"So…" her friend stares at Klaus as he leaves before turning to her, "Ice-cream?"

Caroline squeals with delight.

* * *

Richard Lockwood didn't bother to hide the relief on his face when his wife finally managed to distract the Sheriff by asking about her daughter's new boyfriend.

Of course, his wife noticed a new college age male in town.

As long as she remembered who she was married to.

He sat in the downstairs den, watching the last lingering guests enjoy the open bar while he determinedly sat on the couch and drank the most expensive scotch in the house.

His scotch.

His house.

And he wasn't going to share.

Not until the next mayoral campaign started again anyway.

And hopefully, by then, the damn Council would have solved the vampire problem, because the last thing he needed was founding family members like bloody Elizabeth sticking their noses where they didn't belong or starting to actually pay attention to the Lockwood family.

Perhaps it was time for another tragic accident?

No, that would probably just bring Bill home and he'd be stubborn enough to look for answers too.

With a grunt, he hauls himself off the couch and meanders up to his office, envisioning locking out his dumb wife and lying on the sofa with a game on the TV.

Except, when he gets there, he immediately knows that something has gone wrong.

He can pick up multiple scents in the room and more than one had the cold tinge of the undead about them.

As quick as he can, he crosses the floor to where his safe is hidden in a cupboard and pulls open the door to find…

To find the door to the safe had been ripped almost off the hinges.

And the money was still there, the bonds and the family jewels…

The only thing missing…

The most important thing…

The moonstone!

* * *

Damon was not having a good day.

Not only had his brother decided that now was a good time to fall off the sobriety wagon, but he was dealing with an unwelcome blast from his past.

Anna.

Who had apparently decided that kidnapping Jeremy Gilbert was the best use of her time and hold him hostage in return for good behaviour.

And even if Damon chose to ignore Elena's subsequent meltdown, it was hard to ignore Anna's tween body throwing him around the living room like he was a freaking plush toy.

Eventually, when she's bored and the wooden panelling in the walls is almost ruined beyond repair, she lets him pull himself up into a reclining position on the basement stairs, the last barrier between her and his brother locked up in the basement dungeon.

"Listen, you jerk," Anna hissed at him, "I am going to get that tomb opened so I can get my mom back, and you and your brother are not going to screw us over again."

Damon coughs up what was probably blood from his punctured lung, "And for the hundredth time, I don't know who savaged that body in the woods but it wasn't me or Stefan- who, I might point out- didn't fall off the wagon til today, so quit your bitching and open the tomb, or don't open the tomb I don't particularly care!"

Actually, that wasn't entirely accurate.

Because, there was something both he and Anna needed for their respective reasons.

The moonstone.

The location of which, she was currently trying to get out of Elena who had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"I swear, I don't know!" Elena screamed at her, "You have my brother, if I knew what the moonstone was and where it was, I would tell you!"

"She's not lying," Damon swears, trying to use the door handle to pull himself into a standing position and only succeeding in ending up back on the floor with a brass knob in his hand,

"I was acting alone, Elena and Stefan had no clue why I was there today."

Anna snorts, "You expect me to believe a Petrova? After Katherine?"

Her memory still haunts them both, a living ghost who fills the space between them, her laughter in their ears and her nails dragging over their skin.

"She's not Katherine," he argues, "Look at her, listen to her heartbeat, the only thing she cares about is her brother."

Anna had wrapped her hand around Elena's throat, squeezing just enough to cause pain but not crush her vocal cords. She releases her now and Elena tumbles to the ground, using her hands to push herself into a corner.

"Okay," she stomps back over to Damon, "The moonstone? Where is it?"

Damon doesn't answer immediately because his ribs are trying to pop themselves back into place and that takes a moment of agony during which your mind likes to question your life choices.

"You can have it on one condition." he manages to gasp, his fangs tickling his gums as his body screams at him to put some more blood in him.

But he's going to wait until Anna leaves, because if she's going to kick him around some more, than he's just wasting blood bags.

"What?" she demands, "Hurry up and talk!"

He glares at her, "I want it back after you're done," he tells her, "I know it can be used again after a spell, that's rare."

Anna shrugged, "You think I care what you do after the tomb is open? You can eat it for all I care."

Damon huffs and rolls onto his back, tilting his head slightly to look at Anna, who had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot impatiently, looking so much like a teenager that he wanted to snap her neck and throw her in the quarry like he would with a regular cheerleader.

"Where is it?" she growls and he holds up a finger, "Nope, you can have it the day of the Comet, not before, because, thanks to someone leaving shredded bodies in the forest, we now have the Council gearing up for a vampire hunt."

Anna threw her head back with a theatrical groan, "Great, well, not to pull a Katherine, but if they need a vampire, let's give them one."

"Good idea," Damon agrees, right as his spine finishes realigning itself and he can finally use his legs to push himself into a standing position,

"And I know just the guy."

* * *

Caroline is still riding her high when she gets home, and Jenna is bouncing in the hallway, excited to see her. Laughing as the puppy jumps up and down, Caroline decides to take her for a walk.

A nice long walk.

After all, the poor dog had been inside all day.

So that's how she ended up outside Klaus' apartment, Jenna sniffing around the door just as he was coming up the sidewalk, wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb and she glances down, glad she hadn't changed out of the nice dress she'd thrown on after the pageant.

Jenna gives a sudden tug on her leash, pulling it from Caroline's hand and runs over to Klaus, jumping up and down around his legs before he gives a sharp whistle and she immediately sits down.

"Seriously?!" Caroline cries, "Why didn't you tell me she was trained?"

He looks at her with complete innocence, "I have no idea what you mean, love."

He makes a gesture with his hand and walks to his front door, Jenna picking up her leash in her mouth and trotting along in his wake.

Caroline glares at him, crossing her arms and sticking out her hip as he holds the door open for her,

"Should I whistle again, sweetheart?" he suggests and she laughs, throwing her head back,

"Oh, go ahead I dare you."

He grins, and shares a look with Jenna, "How about, come upstairs and I'll order us a pizza?"

Caroline pretends to consider that, making him wait just long enough that he seems worried before she relents, 'accidentally' brushing against him as she walks through the door and going first up the stairs, maybe swaying her hips a bit more than necessary so that her dress flutters around her thighs.

When she gets to the door, she hovers patiently, expecting Klaus to move around her to open it, instead he 'accidentally' brushes past her and she takes a step forward to follow him without thinking, and winds up with her hands on the door.

And she can't move because Klaus has his chest pressed against her back, the two of them caught in a moment on the edge, before he reaches up and brushes her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. She can feel his lips hovering over her skin, his breath giving her goosebumps and she tilts her head, biting her lip as she gives him silent permission.

His gasp is almost silent and he moves closer, his hand touching her hip, the key hard against her skin before he pushes it into the lock.

And somehow, Caroline finds the movement hot, which is probably just her getting caught up in the moment. His other arm snakes around her waist, stroking her hip through the fabric of her dress and when he finally kisses the back of her neck, she feels her knees shake.

In a movement too fast to follow, he has the door open and she finds herself on the other side of it, turned to face him and his eyes are such a bright, vivid blue that she finds herself lost in them. Her hands are acting without her permission but as they reach up to cup his face and draw him down for a kiss, she figures she'll allow it.

His lips are slightly dry but soft against hers, light and when she goes to open her lips, allow him to slide his tongue into her mouth, he pulls back and she has a feeling of loss as she tries to catch her breath.

"I promised you pizza," he reminds her gently, his hands on hers, taking them off his face but holding them between his calloused fingers, "Unless there's something else you'd rather have?"

If Caroline was feeling a little more confident, she might have said 'you', instead she just cleared her throat, "Pizza's fine." She manages, leaning her head back against the door and Klaus nods,

"Good."

She waits for him to turn away, but he's still watching her, still holding her hands and it isn't until she glances down at them that he seems to realize it. "Right," he steps back, blowing out a breath, "Phone."

She licks her lips, tasting a bit of blood and thinking she needs lip balm, she pats her hands over her thighs before remembering she was wearing a dress, not jeans and hadn't even brought her phone or purse with her.

Why had she come to see him again?

Through the wood, she hears a soft whine and gives a smothered squeal when she realizes that they'd left Jenna outside.

Thankfully, the puppy was waiting on the doormat, and Caroline ushered her inside, leaving her leash hanging on the coat hook as she set her up on her favourite windowsill.

* * *

There was a rumour or two, that back in the day, Kol Mikaelson had been flirtatious and charming.

Whoever started that rumour had probably never seen him rip out the throat of a man pleading for his life and then hand his heart over to a witch as though it was a bottle of stolen tequila.

"Think he was a drinker, that one," Kol noted casually as he walked past her to the location he'd marked out earlier by carving his initials into a tree, he unceremoniously drops the body and wipes at the blood dripping down his chin, "I think I'm getting second-hand buzz from him."

The witch did her best to hide her disgust as she wrapped the heart in hemp cloth and let it fall into the cloth shopping bag.

She'd have to soak it for days to get the blood out but at least it was environmentally friendly.

"Alright," Kol sticks his hands into his back pockets, "How many more to go?"

The witch pretends to think, when she knows the number just as well as he does.

"Another six bodies should suffice," she answers, "Then, on the night of the Comet, I'll draw on the power of their deaths to complete the spell."

Kol nods, "And tear down the veil to the Other Side?" he confirms and she nods,

"That's the plan," she assured him, lying as smoothly as she had done every day since she'd met him.

He grins, "Good, now I just have to find that bloody moonstone."

* * *

"Bloody hell!"

Caroline started at Klaus' cry and hurried from the bathroom, still drying her hands on the towel, "What's wrong?" she asked as he started rummaging through his shelves,

"I forgot they'd put vervein in the water," he hissed, ripping the lid off a bottle of vodka and taking a long gulp before spitting it into the sink, "And I made the mistake of being thirsty."

She winces, "Are you okay?" she asks, leaning on the counter as he dries his mouth on a paper towel, "It certainly got my attention," he grimaces, "At least I'm no longer distracted."

She lifts an eyebrow, sensing blood in the water- metaphorical, not literal-

"What was distracting you?" she asks with fake innocence and definitely not noticing that her position on the counter meant he could look straight down her dress to her cleavage.

He grins, leaning on the opposite side of the counter and she glanced at his arms before her eyes darted back to his face, "A beautiful blonde pageant queen," he answers, making her blush,

"She's a fantastic kisser."

She scoffs and glances down at the marble before back up at him, biting her bottom lip and he swoops in, kissing her again and this time, his tongue runs over her lips and slips into her mouth as she parts them. He's somehow not moving and drawing her in at the same time, and she wants to wrap her arms around his shoulders but there's a foot of marble between them.

But she still really, really wants to touch him, so she finds herself reaching up to cup his neck and suddenly he's pulling away with a wince and she sees a momentary flash of burnt skin.

"Oh my god!" Caroline laughs and claps her hands to her mouth, "I washed my hands, I am so sorry."

He shakes his head, "Right, one of us needs food and one of us is a cad, I'm ordering that pizza now."

She stifles her giggle and goes over to the couch, sinking down into the cushions with a sigh and noting how comfortable she feels around Klaus.

She's practically asleep when the pizza arrives and through her lowered eyelids, can see Klaus leaving it on the table and coming over to her. She thinks he's about to wake her up, but instead, so gently she thinks she must be dreaming, he picks her up and carries her over to his bed.

"Sleep well, Caroline." He whispers and she smiles as he kisses her cheek.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N- Here we go.

* * *

Caroline woke up around three am to the sound of scruffling and opened an eye to see Jenna digging at the covers.

"Silly mutt,"

The covers are lifted up and Jenna disappears under them, shifting down and Caroline feels her warm body against her legs until she reaches the end of the bed and curls up.

"Honestly."

With a soft giggle, Caroline stretches and tilts her head back to see Klaus sitting with his back against the headboard,

"Don't insult my dog," she demands, "Jenna is awesome."

He looks down and strokes her arm gently, leaving goosebumps in his wake, "You might not be so enamoured when you wake up sweating because she's sleeping on your feet several months away from winter."

She gives him a half-shrug, "Go back to sleep." he murmurs, and she goes to roll over but stops halfway and turns her head back to look at him.

"Are you watching me sleep?" she asks, "Because that was always the creepiest part of the Twilight saga."

He looks offended, "No sweetheart, I was resting myself until your awesome dog took issue with my phone,"

He reaches down beside him and holds it up, showing a news article about the temporary reparations to Wickery Bridge.

"Now I'm using my time in more efficient ways than sparkling and stalking."

She ignores his jibe at her latest favourite book series.

"You know, they're going to rebuild that bridge." she tells him, covering her mouth as she yawns and he smiles, "Really?"

"Uh huh," she buries her face in the pillow and sighs, "The historical society is really pissed off because it was built over a hundred years ago from this white tree which is now extinct or something."

Klaus' hand had been stroking her hair and stills, "White tree, you say?"

She hums an affirmative and then closes her eyes, falling back asleep.

* * *

When she wakes up, there's the faint smell of smoke in the air and she wonders if someone had burnt toast.

Then she hears a banging noise and has a moment of panic when she thinks the building might be on fire.

Sitting up, she groans and looks down to where Jenna was now scruffling her way out from underneath the blankets, a low growl emanating from her tiny body.

" _Open up_!"

Caroline recognizes that demanding voice.

Crap.

Seriously?! This was so bad.

She'd never been caught sleeping over at a guy's place before.

Not by her mom and definitely _not_ when she was on official police business.

She looks about for her phone and sees a clock on the wall that tells her it's past ten and she is so screwed.

She clambers out of the bed and wonders if she could maybe climb out the window. Would it be worth risking death to avoid being caught by her mom?

Maybe.

Yes.

Or, she could just hide in the bathroom.

Scooping up Jenna and holding her muzzle so she doesn't bark, Caroline grabs her handbag and ducks into the bathroom, climbing into the tub and drawing the shower curtain across it.

"I'd much prefer you not to break down my door, thank-you very much." Klaus' muffled voice reaches her and she silently groans against Jenna's stomach.

"Then I'm sure you'll be happy to let us in to ask some questions."

"Of course."

She hears her mom's work issued boots on the hardwood floor and a running tap,

"Can I get you something? Coffee, tea?"

There's a moment of silence, a pregnant pause.

"No, thank-you," her mom says, her voice different now, less certain.

"We're here because there was a fire last night and we're checking on all the new arrivals in town."

Klaus hums politely, "Well, I'm afraid I don't know anything about it but I did smell smoke this morning? No fatalities I hope?"

"Wickery Bridge will have to be knocked down and rebuilt but no…no fatalities."

"Wonderful," he somehow manages to say that without sarcasm, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Do you have an alibi for last night?" her mom asks and Caroline closes her eyes, mentally preparing herself to stand up and reveal herself as Klaus' alibi.

She was _so_ grounded.

"I'm afraid not," Klaus answers, "Though I did order pizza but after that I went to bed."

Or maybe not.

Her mom thanks him and it sounds like they're heading back out so Caroline breathes a sigh of relief, until…

"What's _that_ doing here?"

Huh

"Pardon?" Klaus asks and her mom's voice comes back louder and firmer,

"This leash belongs to my daughter's dog!"

Oh crap.

Caroline sees the leash in her mind's eye, she'd left it hanging on his coat rack last night.

"Does it?" Klaus asks, "I found it in the Grill parking lot, the staff told me they didn't have a lost and found so I brought it back here to drop off at the city hall today, normally I wouldn't bother but it looks new and expensive."

A faint click of the leash as it's taken from the rack and Jenna tenses with anticipation, a small bark rising from her stomach but Caroline turns her face to hers and shakes her head.

"Shush," she tells her and Jenna tilts her head in confusion, "Good girl."

She kisses her forehead and her knee jiggles until she hears Klaus finally close his front door, putting the dead bolt in place and Caroline exhales loudly.

He laughs and she climbs out of the bathtub, letting Jenna run ahead and jump on the bed, circling around in her excitement.

" _Seriously?!_ " she demands, stomping into the living area, " _How_ is this funny?"

He's leaning against the kitchen counter on his elbows, his shirt riding up to expose an inch of skin above the waistband of his jeans,

"Me getting unfairly interrogated by the Sheriff while her daughter- whom I spent the night with- is hiding in my bathroom?"

She glares playfully, trying not to blush at the casual way he said, 'spent the night', she'd never slept with a guy before, like she'd obviously had sex with them, but never shared a bed before or afterwards.

It was nice.

She runs a hand through her hair, "I should go," she admits with a sigh, "I wouldn't put it past mom to swing home and see if I'm there and to put a BOLO out if I'm not."

Klaus keeps Jenna sitting obediently at his side while she gathers her things and composes herself,

"Let me drive you, love?"

She snorts, "Right, you're hundreds of years old and only started driving…like a week ago, I'll walk."

He ducks his head, chuckling, "That's fair I suppose."

Biting her lips, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as she heads to the door, hesitating at the last minute and looking over her shoulder only to have Klaus steal a quick kiss from the corner of her lips. "I'll see you later." He promises and she grins,

"Yeah you will."

* * *

Caroline walks Jenna straight home, the puppy heeling obediently even without a leash and makes it to the front lawn before her mom's cruiser pulls up.

So close, yet so far.

She pastes a fake smile on her face and turns around, "Hi mom!"

Liz climbs out of the car, "Hi honey, where have you been?"

Wow. Not even a few basic niceties first.

"Well, I swung past the Grill for a coffee and to try and find Jenna's lead, which I have no idea how I lost it, but they said that it had been picked up by the new guy in town…so I guess Jenna will just have to roam free."

Jenna is sitting at their feet, her head tilting back and forward as she contemplates Caroline and Liz, at least until her mom reaches into her pocket and withdrew her leash, at which point she began whining excitedly.

"I went to question him this morning," Liz explained, Caroline pretending that this was news to her, hoping like hell her mom didn't speak to Carol Lockwood anytime soon and report that Caroline was definitely on first name turns with the new guy in town.

"Wickery Bridge was burnt down last night, an obvious case of arson."

"Seriously?!" Caroline gasped, eyes wide, "Could it not have been an accident? Or some sort of natural disaster?"

Her mom shook her head, "The entire bridge reeked of gasoline, and every last splinter of wood had been burnt to ash."

The historical society was going to be so pissed.

"Good," Caroline announced, "That bridge was an eyesore and completely unsafe anyway, if it had had the guard rails that new bridges have to have, maybe Dr and Mrs Gilbert would still be alive."

Liz sighs, "Maybe…although someone will have to be arrested for this."

Yeah, but it probably wouldn't be Klaus.

Something tickles at the back of her mind but she ignores it, "Kay, well I have stuff to do, so I'll see you tonight."

She grabs her keys and heads into the house, accepting her mom's quick farewell before she went back to her job.

She's a little tired and drops onto her bed with a loud sigh, considering all the things she was supposed to be doing that day and all the things she would rather do instead.

Like, maybe text Bonnie or Elena about how she'd spent the night with a guy.

Her phone has run flat and she plugs it in to charge, leaning uncomfortably over her bed and waiting while it turns itself on, wrestling with it for a few moments as it continues showing the battery charging symbol instead of her phone screen.

Eventually, she gets to her home screen and her phone immediately begins buzzing with messages.

She opens a group chat between her, Bonnie and Elena.

 _From: Elena 'Does anyone else smell smoke?'_

 _From: Elena 'Care, is it true Wickery bridge burnt down?'_

 _From: Bonnie 'I heard that too!'_

 _From: Elena 'Good'_

 _From: Bonnie 'Matt overheard the firemen in the Grill calling it arson'_

 _From: Elena 'Are Jer and I going to be questioned?'_

 _From: Elena 'Care, I'm not joking, are Jeremy and I suspects?'_

 _From: Elena 'Where are you? Why aren't you answering your phone?'_

 _From: Elena 'Wow, sorry, I guess you must have more important things to do then help your friends'_

 _Seriously?!_

Wow.

 _From: Caroline 'My phone ran flat and I just woke up, on the right side of the bed unlike you'_

She waits ten minutes, making sure the message is has been delivered before sending off the next one,

 _From: Caroline 'My mom is investigating they're questioning'_

She sends that one unfinished, taking another five minutes while she brushes her teeth and washes her face, getting a barrage of texts from Elena until she chooses to reply.

 _From: Caroline 'Ooops, sorry, I meant to say they're questioning all the new people in town'_

She adds a smiley faced emoji just to mess with Elena further and then, feeling satisfied with herself, she got into the shower, treating herself to an extra-long body scrub and trying to ignore whatever it was in the back of her mind that had her feeling uneasy.

She knew it had something to do with the bridge but it isn't until she's back in her room and staring at Jenna curled up at the bottom of her bed that she remembers.

Klaus had been reading about the bridge on his phone.

With a shaky hand, she grabs her own phone and brings up the historical society home page. It was a terrible page, having been made by a sixty year old woman who didn't know the first thing about the internet and had made several spelling mistakes to boot.

But it did have an information page on historical sites around the town.

Including the bridge.

She knows the basic facts, it was about two hundred years old, hadn't really been fixed up since then except to have stronger metal fixtures put in. She scrolls down until she finds the necessary information.

 _'The wood of the bridge came from a White Oak tree that grew on the Salvatore land. The council at the time insisted upon it because legend stated that white oak trees held magical properties, that a stake made from this tree could kill even the most powerful vampire, therefore, it stood to reason that a bridge made from the wood would repel any vampire seeking to enter the town.'_

Dammit.

Caroline threw her phone away from her and slumped down onto the bed, sniffing and wiping at her eyes.

Klaus had burnt down the bridge.

* * *

"You _idiot!_ "

For the second time in as many days, Damon found his spine being violently introduced to the mantelpiece above his fireplace.

His own fireplace goddammit.

Why couldn't his enemies ever attack him someplace where he didn't have to clean up afterwards?

"Do you want to kill us all?" his attacker demanded and honestly, at that moment, Damon would have gladly seen ninety percent of the rooms occupants' dead.

Sheila Bennett finally lets gravity reassert its dominance and he's dropped to the floor face first, his nose breaking his fall and he grunts as he hears it snap.

"Grams," Bonnie cries, finally wading into the shit show. "What's does this mean?"

Sheila sighs, pressing her fingers to her temples, and Damon takes the momentary reprieve to push himself into an upright position. His current round of torture-porn has an audience of both Gilbert kids, and Anna who hadn't looked happy at being ordered to take a seat but she was there, arms crossed over her chest like a bratty teenager.

"You've endangered every last supernatural creature in this town," Sheila accuses and he rolls his eyes,

"We needed a patsy," he pointed out, "He didn't want to play ball, so I decided to put him in time out."

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as Sheila began frying his brain and eventually, Elena begs her to stop.

"Did you honestly think this would work?" she demanded, "Klaus isn't just an old vampire, he's one of the first vampires. You think a measly vampire council in Mystic Falls could trap him? Every vampire hunter, every organization, every army that has ever been set up to fight the supernatural and gone up against him has lost."

"Well," Damon drawled, "I didn't know that. Kind of hard to see a guy as threatening when he's trailing after a blonde bimbo."

"Is Caroline in danger?" Bonnie asks, possibly distracting Sheila from her next round of brain frying.

"You've asked me that before, child," Sheila sighs, "And I still say that I believe she's safe, although, if Klaus thinks the town wants him dead, he might well decide to kill us all to send a message."

At that moment, Damon's phone buzzes and Jeremy picks it up, "It's from Sheriff Forbes," he states, "Says she went to question the guy but he drank a glass of water in front of her, so she reckons he's human."

"That still leaves the problem of needing a fall guy for the shredded bodies turning up around the area," Anna points out, "The council knows it's a vampire."

"Maybe we could tell them it's a vampire from another town?" Elena suggests, "They can't go hunting supernatural creatures outside of Mystic Falls."

"All we have to do is distract them for another week," Damon reminds everyone in the room,

"Then, bitchy here," he gestures to Anna, "Gets to open the tomb, taking her assorted freaks and friends somewhere far away, I get the moonstone and get the hell out of dodge and Stefan," he jerks his head to the floor, under which was the basement where his baby brother was still detoxing.

"Can pretend he knew absolutely nothing, which honestly shouldn't be too hard for him. I did get the brains and beauty after all."

Elena makes a sound of disgust and Bonnie shares a look of understanding.

Sheila only releases a ragged sigh, "If I ask the two of you to abandon your plans?" she begins, trailing off when Anna and Damon shake their heads in unison,

"I've been waiting a century to get my mom back," Anna points out, "And the idiot here," she nods to Damon, "Already has the moonstone."

"Besides, if she misses the comet now, it'll be another century before it comes back around." Damon reminds them all, "It's now or never."

From the looks of things, Sheila would prefer it to be never, but she only crosses her arms,

"Klaus respects my family name," she admits, "I can speak to him, try and convince him not to retaliate."

* * *

"You know, I miss the days of Smithfield and Salem," Klaus grumbled, timing his response so that Sheila Bennett would just be raising her hand to knock on his door.

"The screams of agony, the stench of burning hair and roasting flesh…" he trails off, waiting for her to finally bring herself to knock her fist against the wood. Instead, a gust of wind has the door banging open and he rises in a fluid movement from his couch.

"Hello Bennett witch," he claps his hands, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Sheila glances around the room as if expecting another threat and he takes a moment to feel offended.

When had he ever needed backup?

Except for that _one time_ when it would have been rather useful.

"This morning," she begins, "The Sheriff visited you, looking for proof that you aren't human."

Klaus grins, shifting his hands behind his back, "Yes, and was rather pleased when I drank a glass of water in front of her, fortunately centuries of hunters before her have given me a rather strong resistance to vervein when it's diluted by liquid. Still," he makes a face, "A rather unpleasant way to spend my morning."

Sheila nodded, "I wanted to make sure that there would be no retaliations for this…"

She doesn't quite know how to finish and Klaus raises his eyebrows slightly as he begins digging his nails into his palms,

"Against Caroline's mother?" he asks quietly, "I might be a monster, but I am still a gentleman."

Sheila looks ready to call him out on that but he's rather not in the mood.

"I don't care what you and your merry band of miscreant supernaturals are up to," he tells her,

"If it doesn't affect me or Caroline and her family, then it doesn't concern me."

She bows her head, relief settling across her shoulders and he sees a hint of her ancestor within her, the one that had been kind to him.

"Today and tomorrow I am not your enemy," he assures her, going to the door to hold it open for her in clear invitation for her to leave,

"I cannot guarantee any further in the future than that."

When she is on the landing, he thinks of calling her back, reminding her that she promised him a protection spell for Caroline, preferably one strong enough to counter the trouble that tended to follow Mikaelson's around.

Mikael himself was dead but that didn't mean there weren't a dozen or so idiots in the world who wouldn't gladly come after him if they received word that he was alive.

Hence the reason he'd let the other vampires remain in town, their presence would shield his from any magic detection and provided he more or less behaved himself, there would be no reason for anyone to realize who he was.

But he lets Sheila go, knowing that soon enough, Caroline might seek her out herself.

She had called him only an hour past to let him know that she'd figured out he was the arsonist who had destroyed the bridge and that she was furious he had done so.

He hadn't tried to explain himself, but he had tried to convince her that a little arson was hardly a pressing concern, especially when there were no deaths resulting from the crime.

Caroline had barely needed to inform him that he was now under sufferance of the silent treatment.

Still, it was a very small price to pay to destroy the last pieces of white oak wood in existence.

Well, almost all of them.

He crosses to his chest of drawers, opening it to see the large piece he had rescued from the flames. He hadn't known why, perhaps to mock his own near immortality? The ashes he had gathered into one large tin and the rest he'd scattered into the river. This wood he would carve into a stake.

A little something to strike fear into the hearts of those vulnerable to white oak.

Woodworking is a calming pastime, he doesn't have the right blades for the task, but he can make-do with a small knife he found in his cutlery drawer, sharpening it and then testing it a few times until he knew its weaknesses.

His mind is calmly blank as he works, noting only the light in the room and the weight of the wood in his hand, the feel of it against his skin and the need to smooth the sharp edges.

When it is quite obviously a stake, he finds himself continuing with his work, carving designs into the piece, runes and icons he had not considered in centuries.

Runes of devotion, loyalty, emotions that had no place on a weapon.

Silly Caroline, what right did the foolish chit have to ignore him?

To give him the silent treatment as if he were one of her stupid little friends, and not the closest thing this earth would ever have to a demon.

It had been literal centuries since someone had dared treat him this way.

His pride smarts under the insult and he wants to tell her, to explain that one did not disrespect the Original hybrid, the man who had slaughtered armies and toppled empires for sheer amusement.

But he already had. He had told her that he was Klaus Mikaelson, centuries old and as close to immortal as one could hope to get. He told her he was a vampire and a werewolf and still, she had looked to him with trust in her eyes and the belief that he would not hurt her.

What were scary stories against the evidence of day to day experience for so many years?

Years he had spent protecting her, watching over her and his pride stings that he had been a literal lapdog but she had been the first one to show him kindness in centuries, and no-one had known him, he had really had nothing to lose by being her pet, in exchange for food he'd not had to hunt himself, shelter and companionship.

She trusted him.

He didn't remember the last time someone had trusted him.

Exhaling through his nose, he looks down at the stake in his hand.

In the right hands, it was the deadliest of weapons, in the wrong ones it was barely more than a decorative camping instrument.

Caroline did not have the upper body strength to drive a stake into a human chest, nor would she know how to drive it into a stomach and up into the heart. Nor did she have it in her to kill.

Yet, she would perhaps understand the magnitude of this gift, that he would entrust her with the one thing in the world capable of ending his life. She would never use it and no-one would think that she would have such a dangerous weapon, it would perhaps be smarter of him to hide it with her than in his own apartment.

Yes, he would give it to her and she would forgive him for having burnt that hideous bridge down.

Forgive him enough to stop this silly silent treatment.

* * *

A/N- Remember people, Klaus Mikaelson is not a good person, merely a bad one who sometimes behaves himself.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N 1- Thanks to everyone who nominated me for this year's Klaroline Awards, I'm in the running for Best Dark Author and Best Romance Fic for Broken Vows.

A/N 2- There seems to be some concern in my story that Caroline is going to be raped because she isn't protected with vervein jewellery, but as stated in the previous two chapters, there is vervein in the town's water supply, so she cannot be compelled. Furthermore, Damon has shown no interest in her since his attempted attack on her in the woods, when she was saved by Klaus, who is obviously much stronger than he is.

There's the suggestion that I want her to be attacked because I'm not taking steps to protect her, as if I merely created the alternative universe and don't actively control the action of every single character within it, from Caroline and Klaus down to the maltese shih tzu that was mentioned once and will never appear again.

This reviewer has voiced their concern several times regarding the threat of Damon raping Caroline, I understand that for many, this is a triggering topic and will always do my best to warn readers if this topic will be mentioned in any of my stories. Nor will I ever romanticize sexual assault or trivialize it in my works.

As to why I am not writing lengthier chapters or updating more frequently, I had a very busy life during the last few months when I had to prioritize other things over writing stories and providing them for free. And I no longer post as lengthy chapters as I used to because I found it easier to write shorter chapters.

If this is unacceptable to you, please, you are more than welcome to stop reading, there is a wealth of Klaroline fan fiction out there. I will even give you recommendations.

I understand that I will receive negative reviews on my stories from time to time, however, there is a vast difference between people pointing out that my characters aren't in canon or that I end a story arc too quickly and people abusing me because I'm not writing the story exactly as they wished and providing updates as frequently and chapters as long as they would like.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Caroline Forbes prided herself on exceeding or defying people's expectations of her, so Klaus should have accounted for the situation not going according to plan._

 _A part of him knew that he had no-one to blame but himself right now._

 _"Are you serious?!" she demanded, jerking away from him and moving further up her bed, jolting Jenna awake, "Get that thing away from me!"_

 _Klaus had been standing before her, now he perched a knee on the mattress and his hand ghosted over the expensive box he'd bought her._

 _"I can put it in something a little less conspicuous," he offers but she only glares,_

 _"You could put it in the fireplace and light it up," she suggests, crossing her arms,_

 _"Because I am not keeping a weapon in my room!"_

 _He wants to point out that there was a handgun in the hallway stand and several instruments for eliminating vampires stashed throughout the house courtesy of her parents, but he rather suspects that while Caroline might not want the white oak stake, she might be willing to throw it at his head._

 _"Sweetheart," he begins, "This weapon is powerful beyond words, and I trust you…"_

 _"I know you were a wolf for a century or two," Caroline interrupts,_

 _"But Klaus, giving me a weapon isn't the romantic gesture you're aiming for, you know what would have been romantic? Not setting a bridge on fire!"_

 _He disagrees. After all, how could not performing an action, an action she would never have known about, be romantic?_

 _Still, if he voices his opinion on this again, Caroline would probably kick him out of her house and refuse to speak to him for another week._

 _And Mystic Falls wasn't interesting enough to distract him from her silent treatment._

 _Awake now, Jenna pads across the bed and sniffs at the box, putting her head in to try and pick up the stake with her mouth and Klaus puts his hand under her stomach, pushing her onto her back and scratching her chest to distract her._

 _"Perhaps I was…impulsive," he allows, "However, after centuries of thinking that the one thing capable of killing me had been destroyed and discovering that I was wrong…can you blame me for panicking?"_

 _Caroline's eyes widen an infinitesimal amount, to the human gaze, she would still be glaring murderously but Klaus feels a modicum of hope blossoming in his chest._

 _She glances down at the stake, "Does anyone else know that this can kill you?"_

 _His brow furrows as he considers the question._

 _Was it possible that there were any persons living who knew his weakness?_

 _Mikael would not have told anyone, he had left a trail of dead vampires and witches in his wake and any vampire hunter who had met the man had either tried to kill him and lost their lives for the attempt or steered clear, knowing his intentions._

 _The Bennett witches might have once known about the existence of the white oak and how vervein came to be poisonous for vampires, but there was no hint that they did so now._

 _He'd compelled a neighbour to break into Sheila's home and search it top to bottom and whilst he'd uncovered enough wolfsbane to take out a decent sized pack, there hadn't been any white oak or any spells for the growing of a tree._

 _"I don't think so," he answers, "Even if there were, they wouldn't think to look for it here."_

 _Caroline tilts her head and jumps on that, "Is that why you're giving it to me?"_

 _Klaus shakes his head and sits down on the bed, "Truth be told sweetheart, I'm not entirely sure why I am giving it to you, myself. Centuries of paranoia and every survival instinct within me told me to burn this last remnant of the white oak tree from existence but…" he pauses,_

 _"Being with you, for the briefest of moments compared to my many, many years of life…while it has not changed me in any permanent manner, has given me a new perspective in some matters."_

 _He picks up the stake, flips it in his hand and offers it to her with the sharp end aimed at his chest,_

 _"The greatest act I can offer to show of my trust in you, my faith in you, is by giving you this weapon and asking you to keep it safe for me."_

 _Caroline sighs and he prepares another rejection but instead she reaches out her hand and closes it around the stake tentatively, as if expecting it to burn her flesh or give her splinters but he had sanded and polished the wood to prevent such occurrences for the wielder._

 _"Okay," she says, with a grimace, "I'll hide it here…"_

 _She looks around her room, "After you're gone."_

 _He grins, keeping hold of his end of the stake so he can use it to pull her in close to him and kiss her cheek, "Thank-you, Caroline."_

 _She hums, "Next time though, you're buying me flowers or chocolate, I'm not going to accept a weapon every time you screw up."_

 _He chuckles under his breath, "I shall keep that in mind."_

* * *

"Would you prefer roses or orchids?"

Caroline looks up from her phone and glares,

"Don't even _think_ about bailing," she warns him, "Not if you ever plan on kissing me ever again."

Klaus is sprawled dramatically across the arm chair in his loft, glaring into a tumbler of bourbon as if it personally had offended him,

"I just think it would be in bad taste, and disrespectful to the founding families of Mystic Falls to have a vampire helping with preparations for the event," he muses, "Don't you agree?"

Caroline had recently found out, courtesy of Elena and Bonnie that the night of the comet party was actually a celebration of the eradication of vampires from the town, but considering that nobody had managed to guess that Klaus or the Salvatore brothers were vampires, she figured it was fine.

Besides, if she factored in how drunk or distracted the human volunteers were going to be by mid-afternoon, she would accept help from Dracula himself.

Who, as it turned out, hadn't actually been a vampire, just a regular guy who had been 'rather creepy' according to Klaus.

Speaking of.

"I think Damon Salvatore is up to something," Caroline tells him, "I overheard Bonnie and Elena talking about preparations and graves."

His has a Cheshire cat grin, "Perhaps they're planning to kill him themselves? And put him back in the family crypt where he belongs?"

Caroline rolls her eyes and looks back to her laptop where she was checking the event schedule,

"I don't trust him," she continues and Klaus snickers, "Stefan Salvatore doesn't trust Damon Salvatore, I've seen that much from seeing the two interact…" he pauses and tilts the glass in his hand, "However, I shall check in with dear Sheila to ensure that she is aware of whatever it is that is taking place."

She grins, "Or just make sure that it won't interfere with the festival."

"Yes, love."

* * *

Richard Lockwood barely made it to the alley before he was ill, throwing up the alcohol he'd consumed that morning for breakfast.

He had been summoned to New York to the Consulate General of Switzerland where he had been informed that his brother's corpse had been found on the bank of a frozen river Zermatt, gruesomely disfigured but with his wallet tucked into his shirt pocket as a means of identification.

He'd still been required to provide formal identification and then sign numerous documents regarding the release of his body and offered vague promises about an investigation although it would be easier for everyone if he accepted that Mason had been hiking, fallen into the water and died after crawling to the bank.

A European version of 'attacked by a wild animal'

Richard knew that even drunk off his ass, Mason wouldn't have drowned in a river, despite the freezing temperatures, he would have been able to climb out.

He had already been dead before he'd been thrown in.

And he would bet that whatever had killed him hadn't been alive either.

His brother had been after a vampire, one who had connections to various supernatural creatures around the world and would have been their best chance for obtaining the spell for the sun and moon ritual.

But he had screwed up somehow.

He must have told someone about the moonstone, because there was no other way that anyone could have known that Richard had it in his possession.

Still, he doesn't think the stone had been taken out of Mystic Falls.

In fact, he would bet money that it was still within the city limits.

Because very soon, in a few days in fact, a comet would be passing right over the town, over the very spot where the ley lines converged, which would be a prime opportunity for a spell to be cast.

It was where he had planned to have Sheila Bennett perform the ritual to give him control over his monthly change, the sun and moon ritual.

He would have become a true Alpha then, he could have built himself a pack, forcing not only werewolves but witches to obey him.

Of course, his first suspect had been the Bennett's and he'd considered threatening Sheila with Bonnie's life but he had paid a man to break into her home and search the place, not recovering the moonstone.

This meant the Salvatore vampires were the more likely suspects but he couldn't send anyone to the Boarding House, not when Damon Salvatore often stayed home to day drink and the vervein was nearly out of the water supply, which meant that soon, people would be vulnerable to compulsion again.

He would have to wait and take his chance.

What he wouldn't give for a zealous vampire hunter, one capable of killing nearly two-hundred-year-old vampires…

He takes his flask out of his jacket pocket and washes his mouth out with the whisky, spitting into the gutter and muses on that thought.

He knew two such vampire hunters.

He wasn't sure whether John Gilbert or Bill Forbes had ever managed to kill older vampires, or whether they could even survive such an attack from them, but they could possibly distract the Salvatore brothers long enough for Richard to recover the moonstone.

Best case scenario, there would be two less vampires in Mystic Falls.

Worst case scenario, there would be one less Gilbert and Forbes hunting supernaturals in his town.

He would call them as soon as he got home.

And perhaps it was time for Tyler to trigger the curse.

* * *

"Kol," Sage hissed, her eyes darting around the open space, adding to the general air of paranoia that was affecting her speech.

"I don't know what it is you're up to but even Finn is hearing rumours so please, call me back."

She hangs up, "I doubt that will work." she tells Rebekah, who is holding her hand up to the light, studying her perfectly manicured nails.

It is an excessively feminine gesture, but the glint in her eyes, the critical appraisal is so reminiscent of Niklaus that Sage finds herself breathless.

She has to remind herself that Niklaus Mikaelson was dead, that he was not only gone from the earth but Mikael had taken matters a step further, having a witch perform a spell that ensured that he would be trapped in some sort of hell, one not accessible from the Other Side.

It was why his siblings hadn't been able to resurrect him, no matter how many witches Elijah had paid, cajoled or threatened, they had never been able to locate the supernatural plain to which Niklaus' soul had been condemned.

This had been a great relief to anyone whose last name wasn't Mikaelson.

One less Original in the world wasn't something worth shedding a tear over.

Rebekah finally turns her attention to her, "It was worth a shot," she decrees, shrugging,

"Lord knows, anything that keeps us from that one-horse town would be preferable."

Considering that there hadn't even been one horse in Mystic Falls when the Mikaelsons' had lived there as humans, Sage reckoned that even at its worst, the twenty-first century town would still be an improvement over what they had known.

Still, she tosses her phone to Rebekah who catches it with a bewildered look.

"It's yours now," she tells her, "If Kol calls, I'm sure he'd rather speak to you than I."

She turns on her heel and hurries off before she can catch her, not stopping until she finds Finn, who was bent over a chess board playing a game with Elijah.

From an outsider's perspective, it looked like a moment of peace and amicability between brothers.

Sage predicted it would last for another fifteen minutes tops before the bickering started.

Still, any intermission in the Mikaelsons' verbal slaughtering of one another was welcome.

And because one had to keep constantly moving or find a niche in which to hide so as not to attract the attention of one of the siblings, Sage glances around the room and spots Katerina Petrova in the corner, leaning against the wall and tapping away on her phone.

She wasn't bound by magic chains or visibly sulking, which meant that the latest marital reunion must have gone better than the last.

She's wearing eight-inch heels and an outfit that Sage thought was tasteless but knowing the treacherous bitch, was probably the height of fashion.

Unfortunately, Sage knows better than to rip off one of those overpriced shoes and use the heel as a makeshift stake; best case scenario was she would injure the bitch a little before Elijah tackled her to the ground, snapped her neck and threw her into a closet until she could 'be trusted to behave in a civilized manner', worst case scenario was that Katerina had anticipated her attack and was carrying a concealed weapon of her own.

"My condolences for your loss," she mutters sarcastically as the bitch finally looks up from her phone and barely acknowledges her presence,

"How long had you known this one before dropping your knickers?"

Katerina raises an eyebrow and wears a hint of a smirk on her face,

"Oh thank god, you're here," she simpers, "I've been meaning to ask for advice about being faithful and I figured if anyone knew the struggle of monogamy after centuries of sleeping around, it would be you."

" _Ekaterina_."

Elijah's voice is quiet, his tone neutral but the chastisement is there all the same and Katerina purses her lips but leans back, losing her confrontational stance.

And a part of Sage knows that she should take the opportunity to walk away, but she and Trevor had to endure centuries of running because of Petrova's betrayal, so she can't resist one last dig.

"Well, if I were you, I'd stay out of Mystic Falls," she snipes, "Don't you have a pair of brothers there you screwed and destroyed almost simultaneously?"

Sage had a different relationship to Finn that Katerina had to Elijah, therefore, Finn doesn't censure her for this insult.

Surprisingly, Katerina doesn't attempt to either, nor does she lash out, instead she tilts her head, narrows her eyes but without any ire and then swans over to her husband, draping herself over his lap.

Elijah wraps an arm about her waist to steady her but doesn't even look up from the chessboard, so used to the intimacy between them.

"She does have a point, 'Lijah," Katerina sighs, brushing the hair over his temple and he leans into her touch, "She does?"

Katerina nods, humming in affirmation, "I do have two brothers in Mystic Falls, granted one of them moved on from his adoration of me as part of his failed attempt to twelve step into sobriety, but the other one is as obsessed with me as ever."

"Charming," Elijah deadpans, moving his rook and finally turning his attention to his wife,

"I suppose you wish for me to give my blessing for you to make an alliance with Damon Salvatore."

She grins, "I can get them to find him to find us the moonstone and then all you have to do is find Kol."

* * *

"Good evening,"

Damon flinched and turned on his heel, finding Klaus standing on his lawn with his hands held behind his back, looking for all the world like a friendly neighbour.

But Damon remembers how easily this dick had twisted his arm behind his back.

"How are we all today?"

Behind him, he senses Stefan and Elena, his brother concerned, Elena confused.

"We're fine," Stefan answers, his voice still weak from his detox, "We were just heading out…"

"To open a tomb of vampires?" Klaus finishes for him, "Yes, I'm aware, somehow thanks entirely to your brother, I'm sure, I now have a better relationship with the Bennett witches than you do. Hence, dear Sheila informed me about tonight's events and I decided to invite myself along."

"Why?" Elena asked, taking out her phone and probably texting Bonnie to confirm the story,

Damon flashed his smarmy grin, "She's right, shouldn't you be off somewhere drinking tea and playing croquet with…"

"I would choose your next words very carefully, mate," the British stereotype warns, "Because when it comes to blondes who don't like you, I think you'll find that I can make Caroline Forbes look very chill and low maintenance."

He snaps his mouth shut and behind them, Stefan sighs, "Look, we're running late, so if you're just there to watch and make sure nothing goes wrong, then by all means, join us."

Klaus' grin is boyish and misleading, and Damon feels his evil eyes on him all the way down the drive to where he's parked his beloved car.

"Shotgun!"

* * *

A/N- Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N- Happy 2018.

* * *

Alright.

All in all, it hadn't been the _worst_ disaster that Klaus Mikaelson had experienced first-hand.

Though it did make the list, nestled between the Spaniards sacking of Rome and Henry VIII's fifth marriage.

And much like those other two disasters, he found himself having to hurry through dark forest area in expensive shoes, splattered with mud and bits of human remains.

Up ahead, he hears a scream and flashes forward to see Elena Gilbert being lifted off her feet by a ravenous vampire.

Well, he supposed that letting her die would be somewhat callous of him.

Especially as Caroline's boyfriend.

Besides, the better-fed these vampires were, the greater the risk that they would reach the township.

And tonight, was the festival of lights…

Oh, bloody hell.

He punches the vampire right in the back, gripping its spine in hand and pushing up until it went through its skull, and seconds later removed the head entirely.

Elena dropped to the earth, gasping and choking, and Niklaus looked around, trying to determine where her Edward Cullen impersonators were.

If they weren't shielding her from all harm at the expense of the Bennett witches, then they were potentially dead.

This would be problematic for him in the long-term.

He scans the wooded area, doesn't immediately see them and curses, pulling the doppelganger up by her arm,

"Come on, love," he growls, "Let's get you to safety."

A screech of tires, the smash of metal- the vampires must have reached the road.

 _Dammit_.

He had to find Caroline.

* * *

The problem with boyfriends who had been born before telegrams or even letter-writing had become a mainstream form of communication, is that they did slightly suck when it came to responding to messages.

Especially if things were going south on his end.

But Caroline has to hope that there wasn't some catastrophic emergency happening, because, right now, she was too busy to help him.

Richard and Tyler Lockwood had disappeared from the party, which she had only noticed because Carol had walked up and down the main street several times before giving up and accepting that her husband and son had bailed on her.

She was now consoling herself with cocktails and flirting with random guys at the Mystic Grill, which meant Caroline was stuck trying to keep everything going smoothly, even though she was only supposed to be in charge of the decorations and set-up, not the entire damn event.

What made matters worse is that the Founding Family members who were participating were carrying on traditions from the first event and were very set in their ways, they definitely weren't about to take instructions or suggestions from the teenage girl.

She finds herself standing in the intersection between the Grill and Klaus' apartment, closing her eyes and wishing for a moment that the comet wouldn't just pass overhead but actually hit the town when she hears people gasping and calling to one another.

Worried that her wish had come true, or that they'd somehow misjudged the time the comet was going past, she opened her eyes, tilted her head back and stared up at the night sky.

All she saw were stars that were barely visible due to light pollution.

Too much light pollution.

Frowning, she looks up main street, wondering whether they'd put in new lights at the football stadium when she sees people pointing and follows their direction.

There was an orange glow in the distance, over the tree tops and she doesn't even need to really see the hint of smoke rising up into the sky to guess what it meant.

The forest was burning.

Their fire brigade was made up of volunteers who were only meant to keep house fires contained or put out small fires quickly, not battle forest fires.

They'd have to call the fire department in Richmond.

People are beginning to panic now, having gone from slowly backing away to running to their cars, even though the fire would have to jump the river, and Caroline wonders how long it would have to burn before it reached the houses on the outskirts of town.

Surely Richmond FD would be here by then?

" _Caroline?!_ "

She hears her mom shouting for her and she finally remembers that she's in the middle of a road which is about to be swarmed with panicked drivers.

Quickly, she hurries towards Klaus' building, judging it to be closer than the Grill and steps into the doorway before looking for her mom.

Liz is making her way through the crowd, shouting down anyone who comes close enough to push her, urging them to remain calm and she seems more irritated than concerned. Still, when she finally reaches her, she grips Caroline's elbows,

"Are you okay?" she asks concerned and Caroline nods,

"Yeah, I mean the party is ruined, but…seriously? A forest fire?!"

"Someone must have lit it," Liz huffs, "Okay, I want you to wait here until most of the traffic is gone and then drive home, stay there until I call, but be ready to drive to the school in case we need to evacuate, okay?"

Caroline accepts these instructions and quietly tells her mom to be safe, taking out her phone and relaying the main points to the cheer squad and her friends, hoping that they'd be checking their messages and not freaking out.

Then again, the forest fire wasn't anywhere near the roads out of town, so there wasn't really any reason to panic yet.

She only hopes Jenna would be okay.

She was probably asleep on Caroline's bed; the smell of smoke wasn't too strong yet.

She sees a familiar blonde head moving quickly through the crowd, too quickly for a human and Klaus' eyes are a little too wide and wild when he embraces her.

"Thank goodness you're safe, sweetheart."

Her response is to push him away and kick his shins,

" _Seriously?!_ " she snaps, "Tell me that you didn't set the freaking forest on _fire_?"

His eyebrows shoot up in honest surprise, "The forest is on fire?"

He inhales deeply through his nose as she points to the orange glow against the night sky,

"Of course, it bloody is," he grouses, "That wasn't actually me this time, I haven't had the chance."

He looks about the street, "Where are you parked?"

"By the church," she tells him, "How bad is it?"

He puts a hand on her back and begins guiding her down the street, "Well, I'm not sure about the fire, but there's a lot of newly released vampires who are quite hungry, two Bennett witches who have exhausted their magic and won't be able to help fight them, Elena Gilbert is currently hiding with Stefan Salvatore, lest she be mistaken for her evil ancestor and Damon Salvatore has run off with that bloody moonstone."

Caroline takes in all this information as she rifles through her handbag for her keys, "Are you in danger?" she demands and he almost stumbles a step,

"I can't recall the last time someone asked me that," he confesses, "But no, not unless those tomb vampires decide to group together to form a lynch mob, and even then, they'd be a mild inconvenience."

He opens her car door for her, leaning over as she clicks in her seat belt,

"Drive straight home," he tells her, "Don't let anyone you don't know into the house, under any circumstances, vampires can't enter without invitation."

She nods, "Stay safe."

His grin as he closes the door is almost adorable, "Been a while since someone said that to me as well."

* * *

Caroline had intended to follow Klaus' instructions and drive straight home, after all, Jenna might need to be looked after, but as she was taking the back streets, to avoid any panicked drivers, she went past the school and noticed a car had gone off the road.

A blue Camaro.

She doesn't pull over, just flicks on her hazard lights and looks around.

She only sees Damon because he flashes past one of the street lamps.

Covered in _blood_.

And tearing into a guy who is missing an arm but not passed out from blood loss.

He must be a vampire.

And in this moment, Caroline thinks she might be in shock, because she doesn't resume driving, she doesn't lock her car doors, or even break down into tears.

Instead, she waits until Damon and the other vampire have taken their fight to the football field and tries to jump out of her car.

She's pulled back violently and remembers that she still has her seatbelt on, so she removes it and climbs out more gingerly, looking about as if the slightest sound will unleash an army of vampires on her.

The streets are empty, so she hurries across the asphalt, towards the Camaro.

The engine is still running and she glances at his fuel gage, seeing that he had a full tank at least.

She still turns the car off, because it wasn't good for the environment to have all that gas pouring out through the exhaust.

Klaus' words echo through her mind, 'and Damon Salvatore has run off with that bloody moonstone.'

She's not entirely sure why this moonstone was so important, but thankfully, an interest in birth stones when she was fourteen meant she knew what she was looking for.

She had planned on having to check under the seats or even in the lining of the convertible roof, but a cursory glance in the glove compartment is all that's needed.

It was nestled next to a playboy magazine.

Clutching the moonstone in her hand, she runs back to her car and scrambles into the seat, hitting the gas before she's even finished getting into gear and causing the vehicle to jolt forward before she manages to adjust, driving home the rest of the way at the speed limit and in the driveway before she realises that she forgot to put her seatbelt back on.

Jenna is sitting at the front door when she gets inside the house, whining as she slams it shut behind her and throws the security chain in place as well.

She knows that a vampire can't cross a threshold without a spoken invitation but the visible sight of a locked door is a lot more comforting than the invisible magic that's supposed to keep them out.

She has a text from Bonnie, letting her know that she and Sheila made it home and resting, that there were spells in place on Bennett homes to prevent them burning.

Elena still hadn't replied to any of her messages, but she can't leave, at least, not until Klaus came back and she could give the moonstone to him.

Or should she give it to Bonnie?

She wasn't entirely sure what to do with it, she just knew that Damon Salvatore shouldn't have it.

Something about him made her worry for the humans in this town, someone had to keep them safe and if the Council couldn't even figure out that the rich guy with the British accent who appeared out of nowhere in a small Virginian town was a supernatural creature, they clearly weren't the people for the job.

She messages Klaus, telling him to stay safe and that she has the moonstone, and then settles for pacing back and forth in the living room while Jenna watches her from the sofa.

There wasn't much else for her to do and she hated it, hated feeling helpless or useless.

Could she maybe go and help set up the school gym in case they had to evacuate people?

No, without the right training she'd be a hassle.

There's a brisk knock on her door and she freezes, her mind already going cold with panic before they call out,

" _Caroline, let me in_."

What?

" _Elena?!_ " she calls, "What the hell are you doing here…"

She stops at a sharp bark and turns to see Jenna has followed her, taking up position facing the door with her legs planted, hackles raised and growling as if she could see through the wood.

And Caroline guessed that was some kind of training that Klaus had given the puppy.

Another knock and Caroline wonders if she's going crazy or just paranoid because it doesn't sound like Elena's knock.

"I need your help," she calls, "Please, Caroline…everything went wrong and I just need you to let me in."

Jenna is tiny, too tiny to defend her or even protect herself, though at the moment, she thinks she would die trying. Caroline scoops her up and carries her to the closet, closing the door on her and hoping that whatever happened, she would be okay.

Another knock, more forceful this time, "Open the damn door and let me in now."

Whatever was out there still had Elena's voice, but it definitely wasn't her.

"Elena would never say damn," Caroline calls, looking through the window to see that whatever was standing at the door looked like Elena.

But Caroline Forbes was familiar enough with her friend's wardrobe to know that she sure as hell didn't have eight-inch Louboutin heels.

Or jeans that tight.

"Skank." Caroline breathes, barely audible to even herself but fake-Elena stills and twists slowly until she's looking directly at her.

Fake-Elena's eyes were cold, even as she smiled and Caroline only saw that expression for a heartbeat but knew she would always remember it.

Even as her world imploded seconds later.

She had only seen the projectile coming an instant before it shattered the window, so she had managed to bring her arms up but hadn't had time to duck.

She curls in on herself now as reflex but the analytical part of her brain already knows that there'll be cuts on her forearms.

She doesn't even realise that she's closed her eyes until she opens them again to look down at the glass shattered around her feet, looking like pieces of ice or crystals, she's dropped on the floor.

"Terribly sorry," a man called, "But I'm afraid we're going to have to insist on you letting us in, or we shall destroy your house piece by piece."

From the porch, Fake-Elena snorts, "Please, that's time-consuming, we'll just burn it down."

"Shall we?"

"Duh."

"Oh, alright then, we shall burn the house down around your ears."

Would they?

They were supernaturals, they could probably burn things down without consequences.

If her mom came home and the house had been burnt to ash, she would probably investigate, but how would she catch supernaturals?

What was to stop them from killing her too?

So, trembling with fear, struggling to swallow, Caroline stretched her foot out until she could put it on ground that was free of glass, taking step after cautious step until she opened the front door.

Two people stood on the porch, Fake-Elena and a guy who looked like her lawyer, neither of them were breathing and both of them had that hard glint in their eyes that Caroline had seen in Klaus' earlier.

"What do you want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady even as her knees trembled.

"The moonstone," Fake-Elena demanded, "Now."

Both of them took a step forward and she skittered back, clutching the door,

"I'll let one of you in," she decides, "Just one."

The two of them share a glance, having an entire conversation without even speaking.

"Very well then," the man stepped forward, "All you need to do is invite me in."

"I want you to swear that you won't kill me," Caroline states, "If I have to let you in, promise that you won't kill me or my dog."

The man quirks an eyebrow and straightens his cuffs, "You have my word that neither you nor your canine shall be harmed."

Fake-Elena scoffs and Caroline glares at her, tapping her phone as she held it at her side before bringing it up to take two photos in quick succession.

"Hope you caught my good side." Fake-Elena quips and Caroline gives her a tight smile,

"I don't know who you two are, but I've sent these photos to someone who will be able to track you down, sorry if I don't trust the word of people who would burn down my freaking house."

"Charming," the man responds drily, "Although, perhaps fair in this instance."

She takes a deep breath, "You can come in."

The man lifts his foot, placing it cautiously over the threshold before putting his weight forward and stepping into the house, "Thank-you."

She backs up towards the hallway stand, "The moonstone is in the kitchen."

He blinks, "Strange place to hide a valuable object."

She jerks her chin, "Back of the house."

* * *

Even though it's her house, he leads the way, his head tilting slightly as he takes in his surroundings.

"Was there any particular reason you chose to steal the moonstone, tonight?" he asked and she shrugged,

"I knew Damon Salvatore had stolen it, and he's a dick."

"Yes," the man turned back with a small smile, "He was rather critical of you as well."

"Why do you need it?"

He clicks his tongue, "My siblings and I were hoping to use it to locate someone we lost a very long time ago, Damon hoped to trade it for a possession of mine, I had him trade its location for his life instead."

He sweeps into the kitchen and holds his hands up, "Where, exactly?"

She points to the cupboard, "Top shelf, in the Garfield mug."

Humming, he reaches up and starts taking down the mugs and cups, not pausing until he hears her rifling through the second drawer.

Where her mom had hidden an emergency gun.

The man turns, the moonstone in his hand and scoffs as she aims the weapon, "Dear child," he says condescendingly, "Bullets shan't kill me."

She glares at him, "I know."

She clicks off the safety and fires first into his stomach and then into his chest, emptying the chamber until he was lying on the ground, panting, "That's why I used the gun."

Grabbing him by the collar of his Burberry jacket, she opened the back door and dragged him to the threshold, grunting with the effort as she crouched down to push him into the yard.

Fake-Elena was by his side in an instant, running her hands over his wounds before raising her head and snarling at Caroline.

Her eyes had turned feral.

"I'm going to kill you."

Scrambling to her feet, Caroline ran to the hallway stand, grabbing her pink bag, car keys and then to the closest, reaching in to grab Jenna by the scruff of her neck and tuck her under her arm.

It's fifteen feet from the door to her car.

Fake-Elena has her dangling by her throat after ten.

Caroline drops Jenna to the ground, hoping she'll run to safety as she struggles to breathe, thrashing wildly to try and break this monster's hold.

Fangs drop from the vampire's gums and she bares them in a savage grin that freezes as her body tenses.

Suddenly, her head twists at an impossible angle and Caroline falls down as her attacker is thrown clear across the yard.

Klaus appears in front of her, cupping her face in his hands,

"Sweetheart," he whispered,

"It's me, you're safe."

Caroline stares at the corner of the house, as if expecting to see the man come back to kill her.

"Car," she gasped, "Dog."

He nods, taking the keys from her hand and whistling sharply, causing Jenna to remerge from under the car. He opens the door to the backseat and places Caroline inside, Jenna jumping up and sitting on her lap.

Flashing quicker than she can follow, he's positioned in the driver's seat and starts the engine, reversing sharply into the road and hitting the gas so hard that they roar out of the street.

She's not sure where they're headed, but she puts one hand on Jenna and uses the other to pick up the pink bag, turning it upside down so that the stake he'd given her fell out onto the floor.

"Safe." She swears and he looks back with a grin,

"Never doubted it, love."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N- Thanks for sticking with the story everyone.

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Okay, maybe they should have guessed that opening a tomb full of vampires wouldn't be straightforward or simple.

Hindsight is 20/20.

But even their worst-case scenario hadn't involved the vampires being _awake_ when the curse was broken.

Awake and somehow fed enough that they could move with the speed and ferocity of centuries old predators.

Naturally, everything had gone to hell after that.

First, the vampires had gone for the humans, hoping to drain them dry only to find Sheila more than capable of defending herself and her granddaughter. Elena had started running and Stefan had suffered a snapped neck trying to save her.

For all that he was a major dick, Klaus managed to bundle her up and toss her into Stefan's car, lingering just long enough for his brother to recover and take off in his ridiculous little red Porsche.

Not that Damon had witnessed this first hand, no, he had only come for one specific purpose.

To get the moonstone and even with everything turning chaotic and murder-y around him, he'd kept his eyes on the prize.

Clutching it tightly in his fist, feeling its warmth against his palm, he'd left everyone behind him in the dust and dirt to die.

And he hadn't regretted it until he'd been forced to detour sharply to avoid the feral vampires heading in the direction of the parking lot and the main road.

Where he'd come across another witch in the woods.

Only a glimpse of a woman standing before a bonfire, her arms held up as she chanted, blood painted across her brow and her cheeks.

And call him a coward, but Damon didn't stick around to get a better look.

He had a plan and getting on the radar of another witch wasn't a part of that.

Lucky for him, the vampires had no idea what cars were or how to use them, so they were making their way to Mystic Falls on foot.

The festival would be taking a turn for the worse.

Not his problem.

The council would be distracted from hunting one vampire in town if they were handed dozens of them to try and kill before they turned the population of Mystic Falls into an all-you-could-eat buffet.

He would be long gone by the time that situation resolved itself.

Even in a small town, traffic can be a mess when people get panicked, and with the same mentality that had people running up to the roof when the monsters came for them, they were driving out of town towards the forest where the vampires were waiting to pick them off.

Well, _most_ of the vampires.

One was standing in the middle of the road, legs spread waiting for him.

And Damon couldn't just drive over the guy because it might damage his Camaro.

And he loved that car almost as much as he loved Katherine.

So, he hits the brakes, climbs out and readies himself for a fight. 

"Think you have the wrong address," he calls, striding towards him, "The blood orgy is a mile or so that way."

He jerks his thumb over his shoulder and the vampire's eyes follow the movement but not long enough for him to be able to attack.

"I am going to kill you and your brother," the vampire hisses, his black eyes fixing on Damon,

"I will wipe every last Salvatore from this earth and then salt your fields."

Despite the situation, or perhaps because of it, Damon finds himself literally laughing in the face of danger,

"You know, I can't even remember your name."

There's a roar of fury and the vampire lunges at him, every part of his body tense with anger and murderous intent.

And that's his mistake, because for all his strength, he'd been desiccating for a century and forgot how his body worked, besides, a brawler would always win a fight against a soldier.

Especially one that didn't play by any rules.

Honestly, Damon hadn't actually intended to rip off the guy's arm, it had just sort of happened in the scuffle, the tearing, the pulling, the biting and suddenly, he has an extra arm he never even wanted.

He tosses it underneath a tree and is about to make a brilliantly witty comment when the vampire, somehow drawing on an extra reserve of strength or fury, manages to toss Damon several feet away from where he'd been standing.

Which is when Damon figures out that being around trees when he was fighting a vampire was probably a bad idea- at least until he got the upper hand.

Or until his hand went fishing in his chest cavity.

Which is exactly what happened.

Because he is awesome.

Unfortunately, someone seemed to have not got the memo, which is why when he swaggers back to his car, he finds that his moonstone is gone.

And the thief left behind traces of scented hair shampoo, peppy perfume and nail polish.

Might as well have just signed her name with a little heart over the I.

* * *

The deal can still go ahead.

Damon is certain of it, he just has to change the terms slightly.

He shifts gears so that his car pretty much coasts down his street to the boarding house, exhaling as quietly as possible on the off chance that his guests are listening out for him.

There's three cars parked on the street, all of them sleek, expensive models without any of the character or history that his Camaro has.

He tries not to let this throw him, even though he had only planned to negotiate with two people, not host a freaking Bridge party.

His front door has been left ajar and he can see flickers of light against the walls that reveal a fire is crackling merrily.

As long as it's in the fireplace and not near his books he'll be fine.

He rounds the corner into the parlour and the breath leaves his body.

Katherine is standing by the fireplace, her back to him as she stares down into the flames, a tumbler of whisky in her upraised hand, her figure encased in black jeans and sky-high heels.

The step he takes towards her is automatic, he barely even registers it until he hears a pointed throat clearing and turns to see the other occupant in the room.

He'd heard that Elijah was handsome, not that there tend to be many ugly vampires out there, but he appraises the guy and is relieved to see that half his draw had to be his tailored suits. The guy was good looking, but Damon thought himself to be a solid ten while Elijah was a seven, maybe an eight.

"Do excuse us for letting ourselves in," he begins, "However, we thought it best not to draw attention to you by having us linger on your lawn."

"Well, I'd say make yourselves at home, but you've already found the wet bar so…"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew that he shouldn't be antagonizing Elijah, after all, pissing off someone you wanted to deal with rarely went well, but he never could help himself.

He thinks he sees the tiniest thinning of the old vampire's lips, but it might just be a figment of his slightly paranoid imagination.

He's been working towards this moment for decades now, and Caroline Forbes has already screwed him over, he can't risk any mistakes on his end.

"Quite," he answered, "Now, shall we discuss your reason for asking to meet with us?"

His mouth felt dry in a way it hadn't since he was human and swallowing, he went straight to the wet bar, pouring himself a glass of whatever was closest to his hand and throwing it back to steel himself.

"I've heard that you're interested in powerful objects," he begins, "I know the location of a moonstone that is unique in that it can be used more than once, and you don't even have to hunt down vampire eating witches to get it."

Elijah hums in an interested tone, but doesn't immediately respond.

His eyes dart to Katherine, who still hadn't moved from the fire, turned around or even greeted him.

Maybe she was nervous? Worried about the outcome of this conversation?

If he screwed up, it might be another century before he got another chance.

"An artefact like that is indeed valuable." He muses in a detached manner when the asshole should be slobbering over the idea.

"How did you come across such a piece?"

"You won't find yourself being hunted down by its rightful owner if that's what you're worried about," Damon offers, attempting to assure him while his own eyes keep darting to Katherine.

"It was in Mystic Falls, owned by a guy who couldn't possibly know its power, hasn't even noticed it missing yet. A human who spends most of his time drunk and having extra marital affairs."

He maintains his expression but internally he winces, perhaps he shouldn't have brought up Lockwood's less than devout approach to marriage considering Katherine wasn't exactly a role model for newlyweds either.

He hadn't heard much about Elijah's dalliances, but if someone's wife was stepping out on a regular basis and he wasn't passing ugly than he had to assume that he was unfaithful as well.

Which might be a good thing, after all, if he's not faithful to Katherine then he might be more willing to let her go.

"Is this person Richard Lockwood?"

For a second, he doesn't realise that she spoke and looks to Elijah as if to try and figure out why his voice just went several octaves higher before turning to the woman beside him.

She's watching him from the corner of her eye, her chin raised slightly, and the full force of her sultry gaze renders him speechless, he can only manage a jerky nod.

"He's not a human," she explains, "He's a werewolf."

A _what_ now?

Werewolves were real?

"Really?"

He's unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice and on the couch, Elijah bristles,

"Werewolves killed my youngest sibling," he chimes in, "I assure you, they're quite real."

"Now," he continues, "You have something I want, I assume it comes with a price?"

Foolishly, some part of Damon had hoped that they would talk a little while longer, like a poker game, they'd call and raise until they were ready to play their final hands.

But Elijah is obviously impatient, and he is obviously out of time.

"Katherine," he admits in a rushed breath, "I want Katherine."

His expression of polite detachment doesn't noticeably alter, yet the air around him becomes cold, ice-cold.

"I am told people in Hell want ice water," he replies, "Simply wanting something does not make it so."

"You want the moonstone, I don't care why, but that's my price."

Katherine finally turns around, contemplating him with her steady gaze before striding to the couch, sitting opposite Elijah, leaning with an arm over the back of the seats, her legs crossed.

Damon couldn't tell what she was thinking, anymore than he could read Elijah but he knew that she had to want this as much as he did.

Elijah straightens his cuffs, "Perhaps I am not making myself clear, for which I apologise, but my wife is not a possession to be traded. I understand your family has a long, ignoble history of slave-owning, however, I have no wish to allow such behaviour to continue."

Damon spreads his arms wide, a bit of alcohol splashing from his glass to the floor,

"Then I guess there's no trade."

Katherine shifts slightly, her lips narrowing and Elijah's eyes flicker to her with an unspoken message passing between them before returning to him.

"There is a trade to be made," he counters, "The moonstone for your life."

His blood runs cold even as his brain registers that he's feeling anger, the kind that narrows his vision, the veins in his eyes protruding as his fangs ache in his gums.

"I thought you were supposed to be honourable." He snaps, lisping slightly as his fangs start to push their way through.

Elijah shrugs, clearly unperturbed by the insult, "What is honour to a would-be slave owner?"

He moves too quickly for Damon to track, having been sitting but now his hand is around his hand is on the back of his neck, he's spun him around and taken his arm, twisting it until his shoulder is about to dislocate. A painful stomp breaks the bones in his lower leg and he drops to his knees, his body almost falling forward before the bright glare of the crackling fire causes him to freeze.

"Now," Elijah's voice rumbles in his ear, "Tell me where the moonstone is and I shall spare your life, how's that for a trade?"

Damon groans in pain and frustration as he tries to struggle, only to find himself being lowered another inch towards the fire.

"I have very few qualms about immolating you and then tearing apart this town until that moonstone is in my possession, please consider that."

"Now, where is the moonstone?"

The fire is so hot and vampire skin so flammable, Damon can barely register anything beyond the sensation of his face beginning to cook in the heat. He's aware that his lips are moving, that he is rattling off a name and an address, but he can't think straight until he finds himself colliding with the staircase, his stomach realising he's been thrown across the room before his brain does.

"Thank-you very much," Elijah says, taking his handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his fingers before striding from the room,

"In future we shall limit all correspondence to phone calls."

He's gone from the house leaving only cosmetic damage, a used glass, Damon's injuries and a trace of expensive cologne.

Katherine blinks in clear surprise, obviously not having expected him to leave without her but she recovers quickly, getting to her feet with the slow, seductive grace she always showed.

He manages to croak her name as she struts past and she turns back, leaning on the opposite wall as she looked down at him,

"What do you want me to say, Damon?" she asks, "This went about as well as could be expected."

" _Stay_." he begs, humiliation stinging at his eyes but her lips twist in a cruel smirk,

"Even if I wanted to, I would go back to Elijah eventually, or he would come get me."

She shrugs as if that's all there is to be said.

As if he hadn't spent the last hundred years searching for a way to free her.

To be with her.

"Bitch." he spits, to which she only shrugs before walking right out the door, not even looking back, each click of her heels on the wooden floor feeling like a stake to his heart.

Left alone in the empty house, Damon can only hope that Caroline's little pet, or whatever the hell he was, ripped them both to shreds.

* * *

Kol is vaguely curious about the screams of panic happening not even a few kilometers from where he stood, at least until he hears the predatory roars all too familiar to him.

Vampires hunting and slaughtering innocents.

Tale almost as old as him.

They can't be too far from them, because his witch pauses in the midst of her incantations, looking over her shoulder, as if trying to determine where the sound was coming from.

"It's fine," he assures her, "I'm not about to let some vampires eat you up love."

Not until their deal was done at least, after that, he would step in if she was being murdered in front of him, but otherwise, he wouldn't go out of his way to save her.

It wasn't like they were friends, after all.

The fire is starting to burn an odd green colour as her chanting resumes, her voice rough and guttural as she utters damned words and dark curses.

The necessary evil for what Kol had planned.

The wind pulls at his clothes and his hair, causing him to shift to firmer footing and he can barely hear the witch when she screams.

"Give me your hand!"

He knows that this is what's required but still, some small part of him- perhaps a human part, perhaps the part of him that hasn't been swallowed whole by his ego- hesitates.

" _Give me your hand!_ "

He had to do this. Too late to back out now. It was the only way.

He slaps his hand into hers, her nails pressing into his skin, and then digging into his skin, piercing flesh and pushing through until impeded by his bones. Blood spurted and dripped to the ground as he shouted in surprise, his instincts wanting to pull his hand away but his body unable to move.

Worse, he feels something draining from him, not just his blood but his energy, and his powers.

It wasn't just painful but terrifying in a way that he hadn't expected or experienced in centuries.

He had to get free.

Bearing his fangs, his eyes going dark and he puts all his strength into breaking out of her grasp.

Nothing happens.

His world is going dark as he loses consciousness, wondering if perhaps this was it for Kol Mikaelson, if this was how he died.

Before his eyes flutter closed he sees a grey light, eerie because it didn't belong in this world and even with everything that was happening, he managed the smallest of smiles.

At least the veil was down.

He'd not screwed that up at least.

* * *

A/N- Thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N- So, on the day I sat down to work on my stories, my laptop DIED ON ME! And it was a month before I could afford a new one, but here it is and I have a job now so it's amazing how much inspiration you get when you have to schedule procrastination time.

* * *

Caroline had assumed that Klaus would take her to his place, or the hospital, but instead of heading towards the town centre, she sees that they continue to speed down tree-lined suburban streets.

She opens her mouth to ask where they're going but can only manage a croak and winces in pain.

Jenna whimpers and begins licking her neck, her tongue warm and wet against her bruised skin. 

"Don't try to talk, love," Klaus murmurs, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, "We'll need to get some ice on that."

She settles for glaring at him, trying to figure out how to sign her question when she figures out their intended destination.

A few lights are on at the Bennett house but not enough to suggest that they were up for receiving visitors.

Klaus doesn't seem to care however, considering he hops out of the car, bangs loudly on the window, shouting for Sheila before flashing back and practically ripping her door open and carrying her bridal-style, with Jenna perched awkwardly on her stomach to the porch.

The door remains closed, but he can apparently hear something inside, because he aims a hinge rattling kick at it.

"If you think I won't break this paint-peeled termite infested wood down, you wildly underestimate my destructive tendencies."

She barely has time to hiss his name before Grams shouts that's she's coming.

And whatever rude response he was going to make is cut off by the door opening.

The first thing Caroline notices is that Grams looks terrible.

Haggard and her shoulders bent over with pure exhaustion, and Caroline is nearly making excuses to leave her in peace before remembering that there's two evil vampires at her house.

Klaus sets her on her feet and gives her a little push,

"Right, you two stay inside, do not venture beyond this boundary for any reason."

"You don't order me around, vampire." Grams snapped, taking Caroline's arm and pulling her further into the house, her hand on the door as if she was planning to slam it in his face.

"I meant Caroline and Jenna," he clarified, "But if you wish to venture out when the town is riddled with vampires and apparently Katerina Petrova, then be my guest."

Grams is swaying on her feet, so Caroline puts Jenna on the floor and puts her hands on her shoulders, startled by her fragile frame as she guides her to the couch.

Without an invitation, Klaus is stuck walking along the porch until he reaches the living room windows, with Caroline opening one for him.

"I don't suppose you have any idea what is going on?" he asks, "The tomb of vampires aside, that isn't as pressing an issue, but Katerina Petrova is rather a confusing addition to this catastrophe of a night."

"She… _wasn't_ …" Caroline clears her throat and tries again, "The moonstone…I stole it from Damon."

Grams snorts, "Good for you."

"But I left it in the house," she admits shame-faced, "I…I had to get the stake out."

"It's fine, sweetheart," Klaus readily assures her, "If we need the rock, we can get it back."

Grams leans forward, her head between her legs and Caroline hovers nervously, wondering what to do if she passes out.

Could they call for an ambulance? Would the emergency services even be able to reach them considering the forest was currently on fire and if there were blood-thirst vampires then there might be fatalities and…what if some of those people were her friends?

Or her _mom_?

Jenna nudges her calves with her wet nose, huffing warm breath onto her legs and Caroline absent-mindedly reaches down to stroke her ears.

Meanwhile, Klaus and Grams were bickering with each other and she tunes back in just in time to hear him say,

"The last time I expended an iota of energy contemplating that harlot, the Spanish Inquisition was in full swing."

"She looks like Elena," Caroline interjected, "Except slutty, is she a shapeshifter or something?"

Grams shook her head, "Worse child, she's a doppelganger, one who is famously attached to Elijah."

That name seems to mean something to Klaus, he turns his back to her cursing,

"Right," he growls, "I'm going to try and sort out this mess."

He flashes away before she can even say goodbye and she sinks down onto the armchair, only noting the movement because the world around her was shifting.

"Can I make you some tea?" she offers, more to be polite than anything, but Grams only shakes her head, "I'm just going to close my eyes for a little while."

"Okay," Caroline murmurs, her own eyelids suddenly heavy as sandbags, "Sleep well."

* * *

Face down in the dirt is never a good way to wake up.

Fortunately, Katherine isn't overly familiar with this experience.

But she opens her eyes to darkness and the stench of soil in her nose, so she surmises that this is her current predicament and tries to adjust her body accordingly.

She rolls over and the back of her head registers a hard surface and a quick run of her hand tells her that she's on cement.

Her memories are coming back to her, telling her that she's either in the driveway or on the road.

Either way, when she starts moving, she's going to kill _someone_.

Hopefully Elijah will be on board with that plan.

Her stomach goes cold and panic strikes her as she realises that something must be wrong.

Elijah wouldn't have left her lying on the ground like this.

She scrambles to her feet so fast she unintentionally flashes, having to course correct sharply so she wouldn't run into the side of the house.

"Elijah!" she shouts, trying to figure out what to do. The stupid girl couldn't have killed him, not without a white oak stake, but there were Bennett witches in Mystic Falls, she could have incapacitated him somehow.

Inside her house.

Which Katherine didn't have invitation to enter.

But she didn't need an invitation to burn it to the damn ground, so she could pull her husband from the ruins.

And endure his bitching about the effect the ashes would have on his suit.

She cries his name again and finally receives an answer.

"In here, my love."

She follows the sound of his voice, around the house to where light was streaming from a window and she makes the undignified choice to put one heeled shoe on the wall and jump up, gripping the sill to see inside.

Her husband was in a bathroom, standing shirtless over the sink, holding a wet facecloth in one hand.

"Good," he comments, upon seeing her, "I was beginning to worry."

She has several retorts she could make to that, but she's distracted by the scent of blood and notes the spattered drops leading to the bathroom door.

"Vervein soaked bullets," he explains, holding up a pair of bloody tweezers, "Rather painful and even more irritating, the bullets seem to have shattered on impact with my bones, I'm forced to resort to pulling fragments out one by one."

She probably should offer some sort of sympathy, but her clothes have been ruined by prolonged exposure to grass and dirt, so she's not feeling up to empathy.

"How the _hell_ does a blonde _bimbo_ have access to vervein soaked _bullets_?" she demands, "And how the hell did she get the jump on you?"

Elijah hums to show he's heard her but doesn't immediately respond, focusing instead on digging the tweezers into his stomach and withdrawing a piece of bullet,

"The same way she got the jump on you, I expect," he theorizes, "We underestimated her."

Katherine's pride refuses to accept that as an answer, "She didn't get the jump on me," she protests, "I was choking the bitch out when someone came up behind me and snapped my neck."

"And they must have been a supernatural," she adds hurriedly, "Because I felt my spine break in like six different places before everything went dark."

The only signal of Elijah's disbelief is the miniscule raising of his eyebrows, "Six?" he echoes.

Katherine clenched her jaw in irritation. She knew it had been six because she'd been in enough bitchfights with Rebekah over the years to have developed an intimate understanding of her own spine and to be able to feel each individual break.

She had counted automatically, and she had counted six.

"Whomever it was, wore cologne," she continued, "But I thought I caught a whiff of wolf underneath."

The tweezers clattered against the porcelain of the sink and Elijah flashed out of the house so fast Katherine didn't even register his movement until his hands were on her hips and he was pulling her down to the ground.

His hands ran over every bare inch of her skin and then under her clothes, tugging them off and examining her up close,

"Are you _sure_ you weren't bitten?" he demands, his voice taut with worry and her eyes go wide as the thought finally occurs to her.

" _Crap_ ," she hisses, pulling off her shirt and looking over her shoulder down her back, "I didn't feel a bite…"

She trails off as he unbuttons her jeans and searches her legs, tugging her closer to the light.

Her undead heart is starting to return to it's resting rate when Rebekah's unholy shriek sends it rocketing into space.

"What in god's name are you two doing?"

"In a yard? Like animals?!"

Katherine doesn't have to give Rebekah her useful disdainful glare, Elijah does it for her,

"I'm trying to determine whether my wife was given a fatal werewolf bite," he answers snidely,

"I'm sorry if we aren't meeting your standards for modesty."

To her credit, Rebekah manages to quash the hopeful gleam in her eye and even fakes a concerned expression for nearly an entire minute.

After which, she's jutting out a hip, pouting and checking her nails, while Elijah declares Katherine bite free and she begins redressing.

"I looked around town," Rebekah begins, "And I even checked the morgue, but I couldn't find Kol."

Katherine wants to hypothesise that Kol heard his siblings were looking for him and gone to ground, but she'd already dealt with one broken neck tonight and it had left her weak and hungry.

"What about Finn?" Elijah enquires, "Perhaps he was more successful?"

She shakes her beautiful blonde head, "I checked, he and Sage were checking the forest but when they saw the feral vampires feeding, they decided to deal with them first."

Katherine's mouth waters at the word 'feeding' and she looks around in the hopes of finding a stray human walking down the street.

No such luck.

But if she couldn't live-feed, she knew the next best thing.

Blood bags.

And she had a good idea where she could get as many as she desired.

"We should pay Damon another visit," she suggests, smirking when Elijah throws her a jealous glance,

"We need to know why a blonde teenager had vervein soaked bullets on hand, we need to know who the hell is running around this town able to sneak up on a five-hundred-year-old vampire and snap my neck and we need a place to lure Kol to, the Salvatore mansion currently suits all our needs."

He grimaces, reaching down to straighten the cuffs of his shirt before remembering that he was shirtless and still riddled with bullet fragments.

"Very well," he allows, "But if he isn't forthcoming with information, I'm going to let Rebekah play with him like a poorly dressed voodoo doll."

* * *

It feels like blinking, only a second between closing her eyes and opening them again, except that the light in the room was different, the air felt cold and…

And there was another woman in the room.

"Hey!" Caroline shouted, jumping to her feet, hoping to startle the woman bending over Grams, "Leave her alone!"

There's movement above their heads and they both glance up momentarily before their eyes connect,

"Easy child," the woman said soothingly, "I mean her no harm."

Caroline is exhausted, disoriented and sore, but she's still got reserves of adrenaline and the certainty that she should have woken up when this woman came into the house.

Unless she was trying super hard to be quiet.

So, she crosses her arms, "I don't know who you are, but I've never seen you around Mystic Falls before tonight and one of the few roads in and out of town is currently on fire so I sure as hell know you aren't just visiting and if you don't get away from Grams right this second I'll…"

Caroline isn't exactly sure what she would do, but the woman in front of her looks weak, she's pretty sure she could take her in a bitchfight.

"My name is Emily Bennett," the woman offers, bowing her head politely, "I am saving Sheila's life."

Jenna woofs at the wiry woman but seems more confused than alarmed, and when she offers her outstretched hand, she receives only a cautious sniff and exploratory lick.

"What's wrong with her?" Caroline asked, reaching down to take Gram's wrist and feel for her pulse. She'd done first-aid training, so she knew that the thready beat under her fingertips wasn't what she wanted to be feeling, and at this point, the course had told her to ring 911.

"She gave too much of herself to the magic she did tonight."

That told Caroline exactly nothing.

"Okay," she allows, trying to keep her cool, "What do we do?"

Emily's eyes run over her appraisingly before a hint of a smile twitches at the corner of her lips,

"I will need Bonnie's help."

Right, waking up her friend was definitely something Caroline could do.

Running up the stairs, she's so focused on trying to determine the best way to wake up Bonnie- should she be gentle, wake her up slowly or just shake her roughly and tell her that her Grams was possibly dying downstairs- that when she collides with her, her first thought is that she'd turned the wrong way and hit a wall.

But Bonnie's hands take her shoulders and her fingers are firm against her arms, "Are you okay? What's happening?"

Many, many things.

"Okay…your Grams somehow spent too much magic tonight or something so she's really sick right now and there's a woman in your living room who says she's Emily Bennett and can heal her, but she needs your help…"

"Did you say _Emily_ Bennett?" Bonnie interrupts, her eyes wide and she leans back, studying Caroline's face as if the answer is written across her forehead.

" _Seriously?!_ Yes, Emily Bennett, I don't know how she's related to you but she's here and apparently she's saving Grams life so…we should go down and help her?"

Bonnie doesn't seem to be grasping the urgency of the situation, because she's not doing what Caroline is telling her to and her Type-A personality really can't handle that.

"Come on!" she urges, "Now!"

She still doesn't move but her grip on Caroline's arms become gentle, soothing.

"Caroline," Bonnie sounds her name slowly, "Emily Bennett _died_ two hundred years ago."

What?!

She supposed that if Klaus coming into her life had taught her anything, it was to roll with the supernatural punches.

The woman downstairs hadn't looked like a ghost but if she was, then okay, they could deal.

She says as much but when she turns on her heel, Bonnie isn't following and everything that's happened that night is starting to take its emotional toll on Caroline.

"Seriously?!" she cries, "Klaus died nine hundred years ago and he's my date for the next dance, the Salvatore brothers died two hundred years ago, and Damon is doing his level best to drink the Grill's liquor supply dry. Clearly dead doesn't stick in this town."

"Child," a voice calls and they look down the stairs to see the woman standing there,

"I know you must have many questions, but Sheila needs our magic to save her life."

With a quick check to Bonnie's face to ensure that she saw and heard the woman- and that Caroline definitely hadn't gone crazy or dreamt it- she feels a thrill of relief and pride.

"See." she trills, ignored as Bonnie descends the stairs holding out her hand and grasping the woman's firmly.

"I've seen Emily Bennett's picture," she declares, "You're definitely her."

And the resemblance between the two of them, especially with Bonnie's hair straightened, was enough that any lingering doubts Caroline might have had were dispersed.

"First, we save Sheila," Emily decides, "Then, we deal with Klaus and his brother."

Wait…

What?!

"Klaus has a brother?!" Caroline gasped, coming down the stairs, "Seriously?!"

Emily sighed, "He has several," she informs her, "And every last one of them is in town."

* * *

He had made his way through the main street, knowing that any feral vampire still lingering around the unsuspecting public would take note of him and his scent, either seeking him out to challenge him or gather information about this new age.

That was how two vampires ended up scattered across one of the few alleyways in the town, with the presumption that come dawn, they would burn in the light, saving him time lost in cleaning up their corpses.

He hopes that having fed, they would return to the forest- the parts of it not currently burning at least- to seek shelter for the coming day. After all, they didn't have any property on hand and thanks to the Council, the vervein in the water meant they wouldn't be compelling their way into anyone's homestead.

They probably wouldn't be eager to return to the tomb that had imprisoned them for nearly two centuries, much like Klaus couldn't bear to take on his wolf form lest he become trapped again, but there were tunnels, caves, places for them to hide.

He was very much aware that these vampires weren't his most pressing issue, but he had comforted himself with the delusion that he could start small and work his way up to Katerina Petrova having strangled _his_ girlfriend in her own driveway.

Vampires feared sun and fire-typically in that order- so he determined which way the wind was blowing and headed in the opposite direction, with a short detour in case the luckless creatures had decided that the tomb was to be their refuge.

That was why he was able to pick up the scent.

The harsh, unpleasant smell of burnt salt and magic.

Not Bennett magic either, those witches tended to be heavy on the plants and light on the spices they used. Besides, this magic smelled…darker, the wolf in him wanting to shy away from it.

So, naturally, the man in him moves closer.

He ignores the bodies at first. The witch who had cast the spell having been torn limb from limb and her companion having been drained dry of blood. He steps over them both and heads to the grimoire, trying to read the chicken scrawl of butchered Latin in the same manner that a student of Sanskrit might try to comprehend a work in Aramaic.

Completely unsuccessfully, although he was sure he recognised a few of the words and ingredients but the sheer attempt made his head ache.

With a cursory glance, he notes the two corpses and is half-turned, his mind already on the hunt before him when his brain finally processes the image.

He doesn't flash, he doesn't even move quickly, taking slow but steady steps to the young man whose skin was already grey with protruding veins as the clear result of his desiccation. 

"Kol?"

He stammers over the name, not having spoken it for centuries and even now, he's expecting someone or something to contradict him.

Of course, this wasn't Kol, it could never be Kol.

But he knows this face, almost as well as he knew his own. He doesn't kneel so much as his legs just stop supporting him and his knees just happen to take the impact and stop the rest of him from ending up in the dirt.

He rolls the body over and studies the planes of his face, the features that looked so little like his own, people had to be told they were brothers.

The movement is impeded by Kol's right hand, which is dug down deep into the dirt and Klaus reaches over to pry the fingers free when he sees the displaced earth.

Sees the message Kol must have spent his last minutes of consciousness clawing out in the futile hope of warning somebody.

It was a name that had struck fear into Klaus' heart for centuries.

Mikael.

* * *

A/N- Whoops! Also, thanks for sticking with this story everyone


	18. Chapter 18

A/N- Enjoy!

* * *

The next time the ancient asshole and his slut of an ex-girlfriend intrude upon his solitude, at least there's his brother and Elena to offer a distraction.

After his painful rejection, Damon had looked around the manor and realised it was too small, that he needed more air and to be away from the place before the painful memories became as much a part of his home as the expensive leather and priceless art.

He'd headed to the Grill, speeding through the streets well above the limits of the law because whatever worthless beings Liz Forbes had employed in her department were too busy handling all the other chaos of the night to concern themselves with him.

Besides, he was in a snappy kind of mood. Any human who tried anything tonight would either become his dinner or gutter decoration, depending on how he felt at the time.

The Grill had been hastily closed and with the lights still on and only the front door locked, nothing a swift kick couldn't fix and barely a minute later, Damon is sitting on his favourite bar stool enjoying a free bourbon.

Which, unfortunately, is when his brother and Elena come barrelling in, looking a little worse for wear,

"How could you?!" Stefan demands, breathless in a way a vampire shouldn't be, "You left us to _die!_ "

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic," Damon scoffs, "You're fine."

"We were attacked by starved vampires!" Elena shrieks, "If Grams and Bonnie hadn't there…"

"Then there wouldn't have been ravenous vampires." Damon interjects, "Obviously, so either pull up a chair or get out, I have my own problems to drink away."

In a flash, the tumbler that was in his hand is now shattered against the nearest wall and Damon is staring at his empty palm wondering just how many bones to break in his brother's worthless body.

"We need a plan." he demands, and Damon wants to point out he just interfered with his plan to drink himself into a stupor.

Which had been a damn good plan.

But his response is cut off by an even worse interference.

"Good evening," a smooth, accented voice calls from the door, "Do pardon us for interrupting."

They aren't alone, there's another with them, an uppity blonde with a pout and a murderous glare.

Damon releases a ragged sigh and can barely muster up the energy to spin around on his stool,

" _What?!_ " he demands, "Back for round two? Or did you somehow get lost in the simple layout of the town."

"Actually," Elijah replies, striding smoothly through the room, "I got shot by wooden bullets which was most unpleasant and my darling Ekaterina," he gestures to her as though there was anybody in the room who didn't know who she was, "Got her neck snapped."

Damon nearly smirks but a warning glance from the Original vampire has him switching to a scowl,

"It's not my fault you got your asses kicked by a cheerleading bimbo," he snapped, "You should have tried harder."

"Not to state the bloody obvious," the pouty blonde calls from across the room, "But a human should not be able to defeat or even temporarily inconvenience any vampire more than two hundred years old, let alone a five-hundred-year-old…sl…uperantural."

Damon catches Elijah glaring at the blonde and wonders if this is Katherine's sister-wife.

Maybe she traded her chance of happiness with him to be a whored-out slave for the Original.

They seem to expect an answer from him, but he has none to give so settles for shrugging,

"Maybe you're having an off-day?"

Faster than even their supernaturally enhanced eyes can follow, Elijah has grabbed one of the chairs, broken it to create a makeshift stake and then somehow  
manages to look bored as he flips Damon onto the bar, holding the pointed shard of wood right over his heart.

"I am getting rather tired of dealing with you," he sighs as Damon eyes the stake and tries not to let his terror show.

"And you don't appear to be the kind of individual whom would be sorely missed."

The wood is piercing the skin of his breast, blood pooling around the wound and he can already feel a drop running down his side.

" _Wait!_ " Stefan cries, flashing over and holding out his hands in placation, "Please, it wasn't Damon."

"Oh, we're very aware it wasn't him," the blonde calls, somewhere out of his line of vision,

"We're asking _who_ it was."

"Caroline's boyfriend," Elena blurts out, "He's old and powerful, it could have been him?"

Perhaps it was because they had the same voice, the panic and fear in hers seemed to startle Elijah, the stake going loose in his hand while he looks over his shoulder. He releases his grip and Damon pushes himself up onto an elbow.

"Thank-you for sharing," he says, politely, as if he hadn't just been threatening murder, "Please continue."

Elena stammers, wringing her hands as her eyes dart about the room, finding Stefan's and he nods his permission, so she takes a breath,

"I don't know much about him," she admits, "But Gra…a witch said he was old, she called him one of the first vampires and that he was dangerous."

"One of the first?" Elijah echoes, stepping away from Damon and towards Elena, Stefan tries to intercept but Katherine stops him with a shake of her head.

"What is his name?" he asks, so low that Elena has to ask him to repeat himself.

"I don't know his last name," she shrugs, "But Caroline and everyone calls him Klaus."

That gets a reaction.

The stake falls to the floor with a loud clatter and Damon watches the stolen blood drain from Katherine's face.

"You're lying!" the blonde growls, lunging across the room and Damon half-expects to see Elena's body hit the floor but at the last second, Elijah reaches out and catches her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she struggles against him,

"Rebekah, _think!_ " he hisses, "How would she know to lie about this?"

"The Bennett witches are in town," Katherine blurts, slumping back onto a table in the first ungraceful move he's ever seen her perform,

"Maybe she heard the story from them?"

"I'm not lying!" Elena protests, "I can probably prove it…" she twists around, patting down her clothes, "Um…Stefan, give me your phone."

He moves over slowly, trying not to startle anyone in the room and reaches into his pocket as if there's a bomb next to his iPhone.

Elena snatches the device from him and taps away at the screen with shaking fingers, exhaling in clear relief when she finds what she's looking for and holds it up for Elijah and the blonde to see,

"Here," she says, "It's not a great photo but he's the one with the blonde…"

"I know who he is," he answers, his voice dull and his words slow as he clearly goes into shock.

"Oh my god," the blonde breathes, "Nik's alive?!"

* * *

Caroline wasn't sure when she had expected to see her boyfriend next, but she had assumed that whatever town-saving or at the very least chaos-reducing task he was performing would take all night.

Or leave him too busy to check his phone.

Which was probably good considering how many texts she'd sent in reaction to the news that he had brothers he'd never told her about.

She had asked him twice, once as a wolf and once as a man if he had family and he had told her point-blank that he didn't.

Which meant that he had _lied_ to her.

And Caroline Forbes did not date liars.

Not while she still had an ounce of self-respect in her body.

She spends the night reminding herself of this, as she helps Emily and Bonnie prepare a salt circle and various herbs and candles for Gram's healing spell, as she stands back and watches one of her best friends perform literal magic; as she helps them carry Grams to her bed and makes sure to tuck her in and leave a glass of water beside her in case she woke up thirsty.

Emily and Bonnie settle on the couch together, holding hands as they talk over grimoires and other witchy stuff that goes way above Caroline's head, but she'll make sure to ask questions later.

Perhaps she could even offer to take notes? After all, Bonnie's source of information should not be a centuries dead ghost-person-thing, it should be available in a book, preferably one with an index and glossary.

In lieu of that, Caroline could offer her a notepad and pen to try and brainstorm all the questions to ask.

In fact, she's reaching for her pen and looking around for something to write on when the three of them are startled by a very violent banging on the front door.

Emily rises to her feet in a liquid movement, placing herself in front of Bonnie and jerking her head at Caroline,

"Behind me, child."

Jenna, who had napped through the entire spellcasting and only a few seconds ago been sprawled out on the carpet, is on her feet and dancing around the door. She looks anxious but not frightened.

"It's okay," she reassures Emily, "It's just Klaus."

The look the ghost witch gives her suggests that there were a hundred other visitors she'd prefer before Klaus, but he was the one they had and even when she was mad with him, Caroline was still going to open the door for him.

Except whatever argument she might have made in his favour, either mentally or out loud is kind of ruined when she opens the door to find he's dumped a body on their doorstep.

" _Seriously?!_ " she demands, "What is this?"

It's then that she looks at him, really looks and feels chills run up her spine.

Because he looks frightened.

It was in that moment that Caroline discovered that she never wanted to encounter the thing that could frighten a centuries old creature so powerful that there were literally legends about him.

She holds out her hand, wanting to pull him in, to hug him or comfort him somehow but he shakes his head so quickly that she automatically pulls back, afraid that she's done something wrong.

"Do not leave the confines of the Bennett house until I say it's safe, sweetheart," he warns,

"That goes for the witches too." He adds, raising his voice. And she's pretty sure she can hear scoffing behind her, but she fully intends to take his warning seriously.

"Speaking of," he continues, looking over her shoulder, "I have a request."

That finally brings a Bennett to the door and Caroline sees Emily's wiry frame beside her,

"Speak." she orders, in the tone of someone who is used to dealing with powerful creatures,

"My brother needs sanctuary." he exhales and the admission of a brother hits Caroline like a slap to the face.

"We will not invite a Mikaelson to cross our threshold," Emily declares, crossing her arms and planting her feet into the ground.

"You don't have to invite him in," he argues, "A vampire can be brought into the house without invitation, they just have to be in a lifeless state."

Caroline hadn't known this and from the sounds behind her, the witches hadn't either.

The vampire is question isn't so much let into the house as shoved over the threshold and then dragged by the feet into the bathroom by Bonnie while Emily trails behind her casting spells in her wake.

They both watch until they've disappeared and then Caroline takes a deep breath before turning back to him,

"Okay," she begins, "I know this probably isn't what you want to talk about right now, and that there's other stuff going on, but…you lied to me."

He starts in clear surprise and his eyes flicker back and forth as if scrolling through their conversations to determine when this had occurred.

"You told me you had no family," she prompts, "And I had to hear from a witch whose been dead for centuries that in fact you have enough family members to fill a table for a Thanksgiving dinner."

He closes his eyes briefly, inhaling and exhaling through his nose,

"I…when I said I had no family, I did mean it, though I do have blood relatives…this is somewhat complicated love."

He looks to the porch and Caroline is about to step out the door, to sit down with him before remembering that she should definitely not be crossing any thresholds for the foreseeable future.

She settles for leaning against the doorjamb while he gathers himself.

"My father was the one who sourced the witch and the spell that cursed me into wolf form," he reveals, wincing and flexing his fingers at the haunting memory, testing his extremities to ensure they were still human and not canine.

"He could only have found me by one of my so-called siblings summoning him and afterwards, when I was cast from New Orleans, a ward keeping me from re-entering the city, no-one ever searched for me, no-one sought to help me…I was…alone."

His voice stutters on that last word and Caroline feels the tug on her heart strings, like calling to like, crossing millennia of evolution and change to find two people who knew that it was to be disregarded or abandoned by the people who were supposed to love them the most.

"Until a little girl shared her fruit salad with me," he recalls, a ghost of a smile as they lost themselves in the recollection of that day.

"So, when I say I have no family, it's because in my mind, no-one who condemns another to centuries of isolation and torment deserves to claim the bonds of blood."

She knows the risk, but she holds out a hand anyway, linking their fingers and squeezing to offer what little comfort she can.

He smiles and kisses the back of her hand, "Mikael gave his life to see me cursed and destroyed, somehow, they must have discovered that I had broken the curse and come after me again. Stay here, until I say that it is safe to leave, I will see that they leave our town and ensure that they never dare darken our doorsteps again."

She nods, swallowing and grimacing before she can bring herself to speak,

"Will you…" she breaks off and tries again, "The white oak stake?"

He doesn't immediately answer, looking down at their hands and studying her fingernails,

"Not yet," he decides, "Although if I have to face Mikael…but keep it safe for me, for now."

She nods and reluctantly releases his hand, "Come home safe."

He gives her a roguish grin before flashing away into the night and she closes the front door with a sigh.

She wonders if she should try calling her mother.

* * *

A/N- Thanks for reading!


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